Introduction
The presidency of Abraham Lincoln fell on a complex and controversial period when the United States embarked on the path of abandoning slavery and predetermined its historical development. Lincoln’s views on slavery may seem contradictory from the modern point of view when the fight against racial discrimination reached its height. Lincoln’s statements indicate that throughout his life, he was against the slave system. However, the deep conflicting views on the slavery of the North and the South, regardless of the beliefs of the president, led to a confrontation that resulted in the Civil War.
Lincoln’s Feelings and Beliefs Concerning Slavery
The first thing to be assessed in the context of the controversial policy towards slavery is Abraham Lincoln’s position on this critical issue. Lincoln’s beliefs on both the issue of slavery and race in the modern world can be dual. Considering Lincoln’s time of his life, this outstanding person can be called progressive and revolutionary (Hatzenbuehler, 2020). However, his position can be called ambivalent when assessing his words and actions through the prism of modernity and achievements in the fight against racial discrimination (Clayton et al., 2021).
However, despite the possible controversy, Lincoln was an agent of shift who forever changed the course of US history. Examining Lincoln’s attitudes towards slavery and race gives modern people insight into his internal and external struggles over the racial issue (Clayton et al., 2021). In addition, examining Lincoln’s beliefs helps us understand the nation’s political and cultural division during his presidency and the American Civil War.
President Lincoln went down in history as a liberator and an ardent fighter against injustice, being an uncharacteristic figure of his time. At the same time, Lincoln was a prudent politician who understood the importance of compromise in achieving the well-being of the US citizens (Read, 2023). It must be understood that Lincoln was guided primarily by the opinion of his white voters, who could not support open anti-racist rhetoric.
Despite these restrictions, there is evidence that Lincoln personally opposed slavery throughout his life (Slavery quotations by Abraham Lincoln, n.d.). In one of his famous statements, opposition to slavery is seen: “I am naturally anti-slavery. If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong” (Slavery quotations by Abraham Lincoln, n.d.). Despite this clear expression of dissent, Lincoln could not act too radically and risk losing the loyalty of his constituents.
Lincoln was convinced that slavery was holding back the free development of the United States. He also considered slavery to be unjust: “Slavery is founded in the selfishness of man’s nature” (Slavery quotations by Abraham Lincoln, n.d.). The President was committed to the idea that slavery did not serve the purpose of creating a free state because “all men are created equal” (Slavery quotations by Abraham Lincoln, n.d.).
For the President, the slave system was not justified both morally and ethically (Read, 2023). Moreover, when the American state was at the stage of the formation of the national idea, freedom for every citizen had to be fixed in this understanding. Lincoln anticipated his contemporaries’ views on racial differences because he was deeply convinced of the need to uphold the fundamental principles of free statehood.
Lincoln’s rejection of the system of slavery may seem unconvincing from a modern point of view. Lincoln, like his other progressive contemporaries, believed that the system of slavery was contrary to the basic principle of freedom (Levine et al., 2019). However, the eradication of slavery became a complex task that involved social, political, and economic factors. A compromise was necessary to successfully and carefully fight the system, and Lincoln decided to implement a system that would confront the spread of slavery (Clayton et al., 2021).
In the President’s plan, the containment of slavery would allow the system to be eradicated in a non-violent and safe manner (Clayton et al., 2021). Over time, it became clear to Lincoln that the African-American population could be fully integrated into civil society (Levine et al., 2019). However, the close societal justification for slavery, the slave-powered economy of the South, and Lincoln’s unwillingness to go radically against the will of the electorate prevented harsh anti-slavery measures from being taken.
The Causes of the Civil War
The leading cause of the American Civil War was the growing contradiction between the North and the South, one of which lay in opposing positions about slavery. However, specific actions also led to the escalation of tension into open confrontation. One of such actions was the Compromise of 1850. The Mexican War brought the US to the question of what status the new western territories would receive and whether they would be free or slave zones (Oakes, 2021). In particular, California requested the status of a free state, which could upset the delicate balance between the number of free and enslaved person states (Oakes, 2021). The government decided to make a deal and allow some states to determine their policy toward slavery, but this compromise only briefly stopped the development of the situation.
Another stumbling block was the Fugitive Slave Act, which assumed that local authorities would facilitate the capture and return of fugitive slaves. The Compromise of 1850 deprived the captives of the right to request a jury trial and increased the punishment for accomplices in the escape (Oakes, 2021). This act was a significant step towards the slave-owning South, and the Northern freedom fighters were radically opposed.
Another piece of legislation four years later, called the Kansas-Nebraska Act, intensified the opposition (Hatzenbuehler, 2020). It concerned the construction of a railroad, the route of which was wanted to be laid either through the states with the prohibition of slavery or along the southern states (Hatzenbuehler, 2020). Another compromise was adopted, which would allow the settlers of the territories of the passage of the road to determine their position regarding slavery (Hatzenbuehler, 2020). Another weak compromise finally shook the existing fragile balance between opponents and supporters of slavery.
Finally, the decisive moment, which practically became the starting point of the Civil War, was the elections of 1860. Lincoln became the first president to openly speak anti-slavery, which, as expected, generated objections among the Southerners (Wingert, 2023). At the same time, among some Northerners, the president did not inspire absolute confidence since few expected radical actions from him to eradicate slavery (Oakes, 2021). As an individual figure, Lincoln cannot be blamed for his presidency, which coincided with the final split between the states and the humiliating Civil War. Instead, already as president, he faced the accumulated contradictions that denounced slavery as an impossible system. The subsequent events were tragic, but they set the enslaved African Americans free and forever changed American society.
Slavery and the Economy of the South
The underlying problem that caused controversy between the American North and the South was the South’s reliance on slave labor for its economy. The southern states became the nation’s engines through the flourishing of tobacco, cotton, and cane crops (Pargas & Schiel, 2023). This economic prosperity was facilitated exclusively by the massive use of slave labor. The enslaved workers became the capital stock, the most significant investments, and the most impressive sources of wealth for the planters.
The idea of using hired labor in the development of the economy of the new nation was laid down from the beginning (Suryanarayan & White, 2021). Hired labor under challenging conditions became the only option for some people coming to the US from Europe. Within a short time, slavery became a morally and socially acceptable system that later included enslaved African Americans.
The prosperity of the Southern Region was facilitated by an ideal climate and a significant amount of free land, which allowed enterprising citizens to start growing cane crops. The plantations grew and demanded the use of more labor, which caused the planters to turn primarily to the use of slave labor. The system that existed for a long time, which brought clear profits, was complicated to eradicate.
Slavery was deeply ingrained in the economy and culture of the South, and neither morality nor ideology could dramatically change the situation (Wingert, 2023). By the origin of the Civil War, cotton had become one of the main crops of the South’s economy, bringing in impressive profits and making the planters willing to increase production (Pargas & Schiel, 2023). Over time, enslaved workers became a legal form of property that ultimately equated enslaved people with goods.
An ingrained and profitable for the planters slave system gradually turned the South into a feudal society with a landowning elite, small planters, and a massive layer of the enslaved population. Unlike the North, the South’s economy was entirely based on slave labor, which is why deep-seated contradictions could not be avoided. By the middle of the 19th century, many Southerners saw leaving the Union as the only possible option that would allow the South to maintain its economic and social order (Suryanarayan & White, 2021). The deep-rooted vision of slavery as the standard engine of the economy forced the South to believe that they were fighting for economic independence and their vision of how society should exist.
Conclusion
The reasons that led to the Civil War lie in a profound difference of opinions on the issues of slavery and race. The slave system, which historically became the engine of the economy of the rural South, was so deeply ingrained in culture and society that its abrupt eradication became impossible. Due to the long-standing contradictions and unsuccessful legislative compromises, military confrontation was inevitable. The modern world still faces the consequences of the slave system, but the path to change was laid during the mid-19th century. Even though Abraham Lincoln became the first president to condemn slavery openly, the path to eradicating the slave system was slow and difficult.
References
Clayton, D. M., Moore, S. E., & Jones-Eversley, S. D. (2021). A historical analysis of racism within the US presidency: Implications for African Americans and the political process. Journal of African American Studies, 25(3), 383-401. Web.
Hatzenbuehler, R. L. (2020). Abraham Lincoln’s evolving appreciation of the declaration of independence. American Nineteenth Century History, 21(2), 171-186. Web.
Levine, A., Merrill, T. W., & Stoner Jr, J. R. (eds.). (2019). The political thought of the Civil War. University Press of Kansas.
Oakes, J. (2021). The crooked path to abolition: Abraham Lincoln and the antislavery Constitution. WW Norton & Company.
Pargas, D.A. & Schiel, J. (eds.). (2023). The Palgrave handbook of global slavery throughout history. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Read, J. H. (2023). Sovereign of a free people: Abraham Lincoln, majority rule, and slavery. University Press of Kansas.
Slavery quotations by Abraham Lincoln. (n.d.). AbrahamLincoln Online. Web.
Suryanarayan, P., & White, S. (2021). Slavery, reconstruction, and bureaucratic capacity in the American South. American Political Science Review, 115(2), 568-584. Web.
Wingert, C. (2023). Fugitive slave renditions and the proslavery crisis of confidence in federalism, 1850–1860. Journal of American History, 110(1), 40-57. Web.