The beginning of this book surprised me a bit, because Lincoln is shown having more against slavery on economic and political grounds than actual moral grounds. But now we begin to see how Lincoln has transformed himself into the politician we remember. "And so, for the first time, Lincoln began to speak, not in terms of motives, but in certain natural moral relationships, which slavery violated" (188). This, however, appears to be more a political move than anything done from the heart. In fact, " My first impulse would be to free all the slaves, and send them to Liberia"(189). This shows how Lincoln has no clear idea about what should be done when the slaves were to be freed, and thought of them more as something to be opposed against than actual people and human beings. He was more concerned with what they represented than who they actually were. He seems to think of slaves more highly as it goes on and proclaimed slavery was "fatally violating the noblest political system the world ever saw"(197).
The ethical decisions that Lincoln faces during this section of his life. He now has to fiercely debate against Mr. Stephen Douglass who loved to antagonize Lincoln about his beliefs. Lincoln was unable to fully disagree and say his beliefs about slavery, since "no Illinois politician could hope to survive in the white racial supremacist climate of Illinois."(222) He was torn between winning the election, and being able to tell what he truly believed. He had to carefully balance his position and try not to offend anybody, much like politicians of today. When he finally felt comfortable to make that argument " Lincoln's attack on the immorality of slavery moved to the center of his arguments. Douglass is aghast and sees that "questions of morality were purely personal and had no place on the public square debate"(226). Lincoln sees differently and this is one of the most important decisions for him. He no longer decides to debate slavery as economically unjust or such, but instead is making it his central argument that it is immoral. This issue would later go on to define him as a person, and his ethical choice now had far-reaching consequences.
Guelzo, Allen C. Abraham Lincoln : Redeemer President. Boston: William B. Eerdmans Company, 2002.
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I think it is interesting to read about Lincoln's views on slavery slowly evolving into what we think of them now. It just goes to show that thinking about an issue can help someone discover what they truly believe, and that first impulses are not always best. In today's politics, politicians are chastised for changing their views on important issues, and are put under pressure to stick with one idea on a topic. However, I think the pressure to do this is bad, because it prevents politicians from finding what they actually think about something, like Lincoln did.
It was interesting to see that Lincoln had not always had his exact views on slavery. This was suprising to me. It encouraged me to not think of changing my mind as a bad thing all of the time. However, unlike Katherine, I think that most of the time when politicians today change their views, it is not because they have changed their moral opinion. I think it is because they want the majority or a strong figure to side with them of that particular issue.
The knowledge of Lincolns views on slavery before he came to the belief that it is immoral are not well know so it is interesting to think that even some like Loncoln to whom we think so highly of once only addressed slavery as and economic issue. I agree with Mackenzie and think modern day politicians more so change their stance on certiain issues to side with and strong figure or to gain public suport.
I find it really fascinating and almost funny that Lincoln initially opposed slavery, as you say, just to have something to be opposed to. But that he does eventually speak out enough to say that slavery is immoral is significant. It also must have been really difficult to find that middle ground in denouncing it, so that he managed to say more or less what he believed is impressive.
People's understanding of Lincoln today seems to be very divergent from how he actually was. It seems like he has been idolized. He was human too and obviously had flaws. Piloting the country through the civil war was a big accomplishment though.
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