Abraham Lincoln Quotes
I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races. That I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of making voters or jurors of negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people.... I as much as any man am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race.
In a campaign speech in Charleston, Illinois where there were a large proportion of settlers of Southern extraction he said the following which was at variance with sentiments he had expressed weeks before in a speech in Chicago:
Abraham Lincoln, 1809-1865, 16th President of the United States (Republican, IL), Fourth Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Charleston, IL, September 18, 1858
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
See {618215} for a seemingly contradictory quotation by White.
Eight years and a Civil War later, he had changed his mind and was the sponsor of the Civil Rights Act of 1866—the first Federal civil rights law in America. See {587711}.
Newsletter of the United Sons of Confederate Veterans
Charleston was in the Southern part of the state where most people supported slavery. Douglas made an unequivocal pitch for the racist vote {600060} and forced Lincoln to take a stand. Like many politicians today, Lincoln decided to give the audience what they wanted to hear. It is not clear whether or not he ever believed this statement or was just pandering in a political campaign. He had never said this in the Northern part of the state of before. Lincoln’s views on race changed and matured over the years, culminating in the Emancipation Proclamation. Lincoln lost the Senate seat to Douglas.
In the South racism was so extensive that Blacks were not allowed to even vote. Brooke had moved from the South to Massachusetts and there as in the North, Midwest and West, African Americans could vote. So the first time Brooke ever voted he was a candidate.
Racial intermarriage was the greatest fear of those who opposed integration.
This quotation is one of the most enlightening about Reconstruction. The Congress was debating the first Civil Rights Act and Harris was one of the few Southern Whites left in the Congress as Maryland had not seceded. He told the other members of Congress that no matter what they did including passing the Civil Right Act of 1866, the states will ultimately control what happens in the states without worring about the Federal government. All the efforts at equality and civil rights would fail, and the Negro must be kept inferior. Harris lost the debate and the Civil Right Act of 1866 was passed. It was vetoed by the Southern President Andrew Johnson but both Houses of Congress overrode the veto easily. But Harris was right historically as to what would happen, and it would be 100 years before civil rights legislation would be meaningful.
The editor at the time was Dr. William H. Boyle but no one is sure whether he, the owner, or someone else, wrote the editorial. The quotation illustrated a fascinating twist of logic that was very commonly held at the time. “If God created men of different colors, he must have meant them to be separate.” It is fascinating that virtually no one at the time made a similar argument about hair or eye color, intellect or other differential traits of people. Although this logical fallacy waned in the latter part of the 20th century, there are some who still hold to it.
This was passed after the Civil War had ended---during Reconstruction. Many states had similar laws until the Supreme Court challenges to them in the latter half of the 20th century.
Abraham Lincoln was an American politician and lawyer who served as the 16th President of the United States from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. Lincoln led the United States through its Civil War—its bloodiest war and its greatest moral, constitutional, and political crisis. In doing so, he preserved the Union, abolished slavery, strengthened the federal government, and modernized the economy.
