President Abraham Lincoln's 19th Century Personal View of African-Americans Explored
"I am naturally anti-slavery. If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong"
~Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States of America April 4, 1864 Letter to Albert Hodges
Many pundits and historians praise President Abraham Lincoln's position on the institution of slavery. What was President Lincoln's attitude in regards to the individual person of African descent - the slave - during the beginning of the American Civil War?
The Atlanta Century newspaper on Sunday, August 17, 1862 published:
"President Lincoln on Thursday urged a delegation of five free Negroes to voluntarily accept his plan to colonize emancipated slaves in Central America. . . . 'You and we,' he told the Negroes, 'are of different races. We have a broader difference than exists between almost any other two races. Whether it is right or wrong, I need not discuss, but this physical difference is a great disadvantage to us both, as I think your race suffer very greatly, many of them by living among us, while ours suffer from your presence. . . . If this is admitted it affords reason at least why we should be separated.'"1
Academic Question: Pundits question why would a person of African descent stay in the south and fight for the Confederacy. Why did the five free Black delegates decide for the entire population of slaves to remain in the United States where blacks were for over a century separate and not equal?
20th Century Science:
Perhaps Lincoln did not have the scientific knowledge available to us today concerning the anthropology of humans. In fact, at the turn of the 20th century, scientists began to note that "the flat nose of the African and large notrils result from the necessity of inhaling larger drafts of tropical air to produce the same degree of vitality." In addition, scientists noted that the hotter climates are a major contributing factor to the pigmentation of skin color.2
"Tubman criticized Lincoln for not readily allowing for the enlistment of black troops [in the Union army] and for the disparity in pay that soldiers received."3
