Teaching Strategy
William Bartelt
Lincoln, Race, and Slavery
Before 1858: The Key Documents
T
ypically,
differed and how
students learn
politics andideologies
about Abraham
led to the Civil War.
Lincoln's views and
policies
regarding
Objectives
slavery and race as
1. To examine the
they were formulated
ideological developafter his emergence
ment of Abraham
on the national stage
Lincoln's
during and after his
attitude toward race
debates with Stephen
and slavery prior to
Douglas in 1858 and
1858.
especially during his
presidency. Lincoln,
2. To identify
however, stated on a
economic, politinumber of occasions
cal, philosophical,
that he had always
and moral feelings
hated slavery. This
toward slavery by
teaching
strategy The artist blames Democrats for violence perpetrated against antislavery settlers in the wake ofthe Kansas-Neexamining primary
focuses on the years braska Act. Here a "freesoiler" has been bound to the "Democratic Platform" and is restrained by presidential
source documents.
before the Lincoln- nominee James Buchanan and Democratic senator Lewis Cass. Stephen A. Douglas and Franklin Pierce force
Douglas
debates a black man into the giant's gaping mouth, i856.(lmage courtesy of Library of Congress, LC-USZ62-92043.)
Time Frame
and on his public
One to two class
utterances on slavery
periods.
and race, beginning with his first public statement in March 1837,
when he was a member ofthe Illinois House of Representatives. His
Background
private views, as Michael Ryan-Kessler suggests, had a much longer
In an April 4, 1864 letter to A. C. Hodges of Kentucky, Abraham
history than that. One might ask: How did Lincoln, bom in a slave state
Lincoln wrote, "I am naturally anti-slavery. If slavery is not wrong,
and raised in a southern midwestern culture that was virulently racist,
nothing is wrong. I can not remember when I did not so think and feel.
emerge so differently from most of those with whom he grew up? And
And yet I have never understood that the Presidency conferred upon me
why Stephen Douglas, a native of Vermont, never publicly challenged
an unrestricted right to act officially upon this judgment and feeling"
the morality of slavery?
(i). Lincoln knew slavery all his life. He was born in Kentucky—a slave
state. His father brought the family to Indiana—a free state. Partially
National Standards
because of his observations of slavery made on two trips down the
Era 4: Expansion and Reform (1801-1861)
Mississippi River to New Orleans—the first at age nineteen and the
Standard 2D: The student understands the rapid growth of "the
second at twenty-two—he took a growing interest in the national debate
peculiar institution" after 1800 and the varied experiences of
regarding the issue and followed its coverage closely in the newspapers.
African Americans under slavery.
But what should and could be done about slavery?
This question became momentous with the passage ofthe KansasEra 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Nebraska Act in 1854. It is difficult for twenty-first century students to
Standard iA: The student understands how the North and South
understand the dilemma of dealing with slavery and race in the 1850.
OAH Magazine of History • October 2ooy 31
Endnotes
Students will develop an appreciation of this dilemma by examining the
1. Lincoln to Hodges, April 4, 1864 in Roy P. Basler, ed.. The Collected Works
words of Abraham Lincoln.
ofAbraham Lincoln, 8 vols. (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press,
Prior to the lesson, students should have a general understanding of
1953), i: 281.
the impact of western expansion on the issue of slavery. Most textbooks
2. Ibid, 2: 255. He used the same language to describe slavery in his first debate
provide this background. Some knowledge of the life of Abraham
with Douglas on August 21,1858, See Collected Works, 3:1.
Lincoln would be helpful to complete the lesson. Students could use the
numerous Lincoln related web sites for this background. An excellent
Bibliography
readable biography for high school students is William E. Gienapp's
Basler, Roy P., ed.. The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. 8 vols. New
Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War (New York: Oxford University Press, Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1953.
2002).
Donald, David Herbert. Lincoln. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995.
Procedures
Part i: Establish historical context for the lesson.
A. Through homework, lecture, or class discussion, familiarize
students with the following:
1. Free states and slave states
2. Abolitionism
3. Colonization
4. The Mexican War
5. The Compromise of 1850
6. Responses to the Fugitive Slave Act
7. The Kansas-Nebraska Act
8. The life of Abraham Lincoln up to 1856
Part 2: Using Lincoln Documents
A. Duplicate and distribute Lincoln documents 1-6 (Located at the
end ofthe teaching strategy)
I. Explain that these statements illustrate Lincoln's views on
slavery and race in the early years of his life
a. Option i: Ask students to read the documents and answer
the questions following each document.
b. Option 2: Divide the class into six groups and ask each
group to analyze one of the documents and answer the
accompanying questions. Ask the groups to share their
conclusions with the class.
Part 3: Assessment
A. Ask students to write an essay individually, or prepare a collective
response in small groups on the following topic:
In May 1854 Congress passed the Kansas-Nebraska
Act, which had the potential of extending slavery
into areas where the Missouri Compromise of 1820
prohibited that institution. As a result of this act,
individuals were forced to reexamine their views on
slavery generally and the extension of it in particular.
In his Peoria speech five months later, Lincoln said,
" If all earthly power were given me, I should not know
what to do, as to the existing [slavery] institution" (2).
Students should discuss Lincoln's dilemma on how
to deal with slavery in the context of 1854. Consider
the consequences of ending or prolonging slavery on
the Constitution, the Union, the image ofthe United
States, and the views of the average citizen in the
North and South.
32 OAH Magazine of History • October 2007
Gienapp, William E. Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War. New York: Oxford
University Press, 2002.
Paludan, Phillip Shaw. "Lincoln and Negro Slavery: I Haven't Got Time for the
Pain." Journal ofthe Abraham Lincoln Association 27 (Summer 2006): 1-23.
Striner, Richard. Father Abraham: Lincoln's Relentless Struck
New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.
to End Slavery.
Wilson, Douglas L. Lincoln's Sword: The Presidency and the Power of Words. New
York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006.
Web sites
The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln: <http://quod.lib.umich.edu/l/
Lincoln>.
Abraham Lincoln Birthplace: <http://www. nps.gov/able>.
Abraham Lincoln Online: <http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln.
html>.
Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial: <http://www.nps.gov/libo>.
The Abraham Lincoln Association: <http://www.abrahamlincolnassociation.
org>.
The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission: <http://www.lincoln2oo.
gov>.
William Bartelt recently retired after teaching history and social studies for
over thirty years at William Henry Harrison High School in Evansville,
Indiana. He is a longtime student of Lincoln and has worked as a historian
at the Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial in Lincoln City, Indiana, and
at the Lincoln Home National Historic Site in Sprin^ld, Illinois. He also
serves on the Advisory Committee ofthe Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial
Commission.
Document i
Document 2
Abraham Lincoln To Mary Speed (Collected 'Works, r. 260).
Protest in Illinois Legislature of Dan Stone and Abraham
Miss Mary Speed in Bloomington, Illinois,
Lincoln to a resolution of disapproval of abolitionism and
Abraham
Lincoln in Louisville, Kentucky.
affirmation that the Constitution made slavery "sacred to
Sept. 27th. 1841
the slave-holding states," March 3, 1837 (Roy P. Basler,
ed., The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, 8 vols. (New
We got on board the Steam Boat Lebanon, in the locks ofthe
Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1953), i: 74-75.
Canal about 12. o'clock. M. ofthe day we leji, and reached St.
Hereinafter Collected Works.
Louis the next monday at 8 P.M. Nothing of interest happened
Resolutions upon the subject of domestic slavery having passed during the passage, except the vexatious delays occasioned
both branches ofthe General Assembly at its present session, the by the sand bars be thought interesting. By the way, a fme
example was presented on board the boat for contemplating the
undersigned hereby protest against the passage ofthe same.
effect of condition upon human happiness. A gentleman had
purchased
twelve negroes in different parts of Kentucky and
They believe that the institution of slavery is founded on both
injustice and bad policy; but that the promulgation ofabolition was taking them to a farm in the South. They were chained six
and six together. A small iron clevis was around the left wrist
doctrines tends rather to increase than to abate its evils.
of each, and this fastened to the main chain by a shorter one at
They believe that the Congress ofthe United States has no a convenient distanceft-om,the others; so that the negroes were
power, under the constitution, to interfere with the institution strung together precisely like so many fish upon a trot-line. In
this condition they were being separated foreverfrom the scenes
of slavery in the different states.
of their childhood, theirfriends, theirfathers and mothers, and
brothers and sisters, and many of them, from their wives and
Questions
children,
and going into perpetual slavery where the lash ofthe
1. This is Lincoln's first known public statement about
master
is
proverbially
more ruthless and unrelenting than any
slavery. How would you describe Lincoln's stand on
other where; and yet amid all these distressing circumstances,
the issue.^
as we would think them, they were the most cheerful and
apparently happy creatures on board. One, whose offence
2. What do you think is meant by "injustice and bad
for which he had been sold was an over-fondness for his wife,
policy.^"
played the fiddle almost continually; and the others danced,
sung, cracked jokes, and played various games with cards from
3. Lincoln was one of six voting against the resolution,
day to day. How true it is that "Cod tempers the wind to the
while seventy-seven voted in favor of it. What does
shorn
lamb," or in other words, that He renders the worst of
this indicate about his views and the necessity of
human
conditions tolerable, while He permits the best, to be
explaining those views to the electorate?
nothing better than tolerable ...
Questions
1. what does Lincoln mean by "condition upon human
happiness?"
2. In Lincoln's view, what circumstances were changing
for the slaves leaving Kentucky?
3. Do you agree, "God tempers the wind to the shorn
lamb?"
4. How accurate is Lincoln's assessment ofthe feelings of
the slaves?
OAH Magazine of History • October 200J 33
Document 3
Abraham Uncoln's Eulogy for Henry Clay, July 6,1852
Document 4
Fragment on Slavery by Abraham Lincoln
(Collected Works, 2: 222-23).
{Collected Works, 2:130-32).
[April 1,1854?]
Having been led to allude to domestic slavery so frequently
If A. can prove, however conclusively, that he may, of right,
already, I am unwilling to close without referring more particularly
enslave
B.—why may not B. snatch the same argument, and prove
to Mr. Clay's views and conduct in regard to it. He ever was, on
equally,
that he may enslave A?
principle and in feeling, opposed to slavery. The very earliest, and one
of the latest puhlic efforts of his life, separated hy a period of more
You say A. is white, and B. is black. It is color, then; the lighter,
than fifty years, were hoth made in favor of gradual emancipation
having
the right to enslave the darker? Take care. By this rule, you
of the slaves in Kentucky. He did not perceive, that on a question of
are
to
he
slave to the first man you meet, with a fairer skin than your
human right, the negroes were to he exceptedftom the human race.
own.
And yet Mr. Clay was the owner of slaves. Cast into life where slavery
was already widely spread and deeply seated, he did not perceive, as I
You do not mean color exactly?—You mean the whites are
think no wise man has perceived, how it could he at once eradicated,
intelleaually
the superiors of the hlacks, and, therefore have the right
without producing a greater evil, even to the cause of human liberty
to
enslave
them?
Take care again. By this rule, you are to be slave to
itself. His feeling and his judgment, therefore, ever led him to oppose
the
first
man
you
meet,
with an intellect superior to your own.
hoth extremes of opinion on the subject. Those who would shiver into
fragments the Union of these States; tear to tatters its now venerated
But, say you, it is a question of interest; and, if you can make it
constitution; and even hum the last copy of the Bible, rather than
your
interest, you have the right to enslave another. Very well. And if
slavery should continue a single hour, together with all their more
he
can
make it his interest, he has the right to enslave you.
halting sympathisers, have received, and are receiving their just
execration; and the name, and opinions, and inftuence of Mr.
Clay, are fully, and, as I trust, effectually and enduringly, arrayed
against them. But I would also, if I could, array his name, opinions,
Questions
and infiuence against the opposite extreme—against a few, hut an
1. After writing a sentence stating the thesis of Lincoln's
increasing number of men, who, for the sake ofperpetuating slavery,
thesis, how persuasive would this argument be to: a
are beginning to assail and to ridicule the white-man's charter of
slaveholder, an immigrant, a northern businessman, an
freedom—the declaration that 'HI men are created free and equal.
artisan, or a day laborer.'
If as friends of colonization hope, the present and coming
generations of our countrymen shall by any means, succeed in freeing
2. In your opinion, is this a rational argument against the
our land from the dangerous presence of slavery; and, at the same
institution of slavery?
time, in restoring a captive people to their long-lost father-land, with
bright prospects for the future; and this too, so gradually, that races
not individuals shall have suffered hy the change, it will indeed be a
glorious consummation. And if, to such a consummation, the efforts
of Mr. Clay shall have contributed, it will be what he most ardently
wished, and none of his labors will have heen more valuable to his
country and his kind.
Questions
1. How could Henry Gay be a slave owner and yet be opposed to
slavery?
2. In Iincolris view, what are the two extremes on the slavery qxiestions?
3. If Clay and Lincoln could not accept the extreme views, what
did they see as other possible alternatives?
4. Why did colonization offer an appealing solution to men like
Henry Clay and Abraham Lincoln?
5. How do you think African Americans saw colonization?
34 OAH Magazine of History • October 2007
Document 5
Abraham Lincoln's Speech at Peoria, Illinois,
October i6,1854 (Collected Works, 2:255)
I think, and shall try to show, that it is wrong; wrong in its direct
effect, letting slavery into Kansas and Nebraska—and wrong in its
prospective principle, allowing it to spread to every other part ofthe
wide world, where men can be found inclined to take it.
This declared indifference, but as I must think, covert real zeal
for the spread of slavery, I can not but hate. I hate it because of
the monstrous injustice of slavery itself. I hate it because it deprives
our republican example of its just influence in the world—enables
the enemies of free institutions, with plausibility, to taunt us as
hypocrites—causes the real friends of freedom to doubt our sincerity,
and especially because it forces so many really good men amongst
ourselves into an open war with the very fundamental principles
of civil liberty—criticising the Declaration of Independence, and
insisting that there is no right principle of action but self-interest.
Before proceeding, let me say I think I have no prejudice against
the Southern people. They are just what we would be in their
situation. If slavery did not now exist amongst them, they would not
introduce it. If it did now exist amongst us, we should not instantly
give it up. This I believe ofthe masses north and south.
Questions
1. Why should Americans not be "indifferenf to slavery?
2. Does Lincoln advocate a different position on slavery in
Kansas than say in Alabama?
3. Where is Lincoln's hatred directed?
4. Is there a moral dimension to Lincoln's argument
against slavery?
Document 6
Abraham Lincoln To Joshua F. Speed
{Collected Works, 2: 320)
Springfield, Aug 24,3855
Dear Speed:
You know I dislike slavery; and you fully admit the abstract
wrong of it. So far there is no cause of difference. But you say that
sooner than yield your legal right to the slave—especially at the
bidding of those who are not themselves interested, you would see
the Union dissolved. I am not aware that any one is bidding you to
yield that right; very certainly I am not. I leave that matter entirely
to yourself. I also acknowledge your rights and my obligations, under
the constitution, in regard to your slaves. I confess I hate to see the
poor creatures hunted down, and caught, and carried back to their
stripes, and unrewarded toils; but I bite my lip and keep quiet. In
1841 you and I had together a tedious low-water trip, on a Steam
Boat from Louisville to St. Louis. You may remember, as I well do,
that from Louisville to the mouth ofthe Ohio there were, on board,
ten or a dozen slaves, shackled together with irons. That sight was
a continual torment to me; and I see something like it every time I
touch the Ohio, or any other slave-border. It is hardly fair for you to
assume, that I have no interest in a thing which has, and continually
exercises, the power of making me miserable. You ought rather to
appreciate how much the great body ofthe Northern people do crucify
their feelings, in order to maintain their loyalty to the Constitution
and the Union.
I do oppose the extension of slavery, because my judgment and
feelings so prompt me; and I am under no obligation to the contrary.
If for this you and I must differ, differ we must.
Questions
1. Reread the document. Do you see any evidence in that
letter that what he saw would be a "continual tormenf to
him? Explain. Is there a similar reference in his letter to
Mary Speed that described the same scene fourteen years
earlier?
2. What is the dilemma of slavery to someone living in
the North?
3. Is Lincoln advocating the end to slavery in the United
States? Why or why not?
OAH Magazine of History • October 2007 35