ABRAHAM LINCOLN

Throughout Abraham Lincoln's political career, his thoughts of the condition of African Americans, both enslaved and free, in the United States transformed from firmly disagreeing with the institution of slavery, but only supporting containment, not abolition, to promoting enfranchisement for blacks that served in the Union army. Many historians have argued the reasoning behind Linvoln's evolution, some claiming that what he did about slavery he did as a political calculation, and some claim that he was an ardent racist who never really wanted to blacks free. 

This project attempts to prove that what Lincoln did concerning slavery and rights for blacks, he did to save the Union, what he called his "paramount object". Early on in his career, Lincoln claimed that he was "naturally anti-slavery", but that it should only be contained. In order keep the Union from crumbling, Lincoln knew that he had to appease representatives with diverging opinions, which ultimately included his support for colonization. As one historian argues, colonization was a political calculation that he saw as a balance between abolitionists and slave-holders. His decision to ultimately issue the Emancipation on January 1, 1863 was another tool to save the Union. 

It is at the very end of his presidency, and life, with his support of the 13th Amendment and suffrage for black men who had served in the war, where Lincoln's evolution ends. Once it was clear that the war would be won by Grant's army and the Union would be slowly reconstructed, Lincoln began to think about an America that included blacks as citizens with certain rights.