American History

FROM 1800 TO 1860  WAS ABRAHAM LINCOLN AN ABOLITIONIST
Introduction
One question that speaks to several issues in relation to slavery and American history from 1800 to 1860 is the question of whether Abraham Lincoln was an abolitionist. A wealth of literature was written about Lincolns political legacy and his contribution to the abolition of slavery in America. That Lincoln was the one to abolish slavery in America often grants him a status of a prominent and, actually, the central abolitionist figure in 19th century America, but this is an erroneous belief. In reality, Lincolns position regarding slavery and his attitudes toward anti-slavery trends in America placed him in a direct opposition to abolitionists. More importantly, Lincolns political ideology and his beliefs about slavery revealed the historical and political economic complexity of the slavery issues, which Lincoln wanted to address. Abraham Lincoln was not an abolitionist because his political sentiments were based on political reason and economic sense, which went against the exaggerated romanticism and immediacy of abolitionism in 19th century America.

The analysis of Lincolns political ideology and his attitudes toward slavery calls for a brief description of abolitionism. Such description is necessary to clarify the conflicts and misunderstandings between Lincoln and his abolitionist opponents. Abolitionism was born with America, and it did not fade until the nations bloody experience in the Civil War. Abolitionism was always about the need for America to eliminate slavery but more important were the means, which abolitionists were eager to use in order to achieve their goals. The beginning of the 1830s was marked with a profound shift in public consciousness and a step away from the traditional gradualist beliefs about abolition modern abolitionists roused the masses to end slavery immediately. Immediacy was the critical criterion of difference between Lincolns beliefs about the abolition of slavery and the underlying meaning of abolitionism in the American political landscape. Immediacy was the distinctive feature of abolitionism later in the 19th century and something that Lincoln could not accept

Before proceeding, let me say that I have no prejudice against the Southern people. They are just what we would be in their situation. If slavery did not now exist among them, they would not introduce it. If it did now exist amongst us, we should not instantly give it up. This I believe of the masses North and South. (Kennedy, Bailey  Bailey 2009, 398)

That Lincoln did not welcome the abolition of slavery in America was an erroneous assumption, although Lincoln never openly supported abolitionism in the way it was presented to the American population. He opposed to the romanticism of immediacy  the premise on which American abolitionism successfully rested  and grounded his political assumptions on the principles of economic reason and political objectivity.

Lincolns beliefs about slavery and his commitment to rationality and justice had been rooted in his personal history. Lincoln was grown up by a family of Separate Baptists, who accepted Gods absolute control over human will and denied the relevance of free choice even in the smallest events. Lincoln rebelled against his parents religiosity and their attitudes toward life, but he always believed that human action and mind were governed by some form of power over which humans never had any control. His legal experience, his professional commitments, and his rejection of religion as too romantic, unreasonable, and unjustified led him to believe that the true sense of politics was distanced from ethnicity and religion but was closely associated with the expansion of American nationality. Abraham Lincoln was not an abolitionist because he never recognized the romanticism of immediacy, which American abolitionists promoted as their central value. Abraham Lincoln did not support slavery but he loved his country and his people in a way that differed from the abolitionist vision of reality. Human rights and human nature were preeminent and governed Lincolns political solutions until the end of his life.

Lincolns reliance on reason and rationality placed him in a direct opposition to abolitionists. The public often took Lincolns political message as the sign of his reluctance to abolish slavery
I happen temporarily occupy this big White House. I am a living witness that any one of your children may look to come here as my fathers child has. It is in order that each of you may have through this free government which we have enjoyed, an open field and a fair chance for your industry, enterprise and intelligence that you may all have equal privileges in the race of life, with all its desirable human aspirations.

However, the only reason of such misunderstanding was in that Lincoln never applied to romanticism. The Civil War became the basic proof and the biggest support to his political assumptions, for it was the Civil War that disrupted the romantic vision of abolitionism and positioned romanticism as the instrument of a continuous bloody fight. In his rational political beliefs, Lincoln was, probably, far ahead of his time but he obviously knew and could predict the negative consequences of immediacy in strategic decisions like the abolition of slavery. Slavery for Lincoln was not limited to African-Americans nor was it limited to the exploitation of people. Rather, slavery for Lincoln exemplified the conditions of fixed labor in which slaves were bound to exist for their whole lives. Lincoln did not vote for the immediate abolition simply because he needed time to develop a sound political strategy and to create an economic basis for abolition. Unfortunately, American abolitionists could not understand his intentions and needs. Lincolns approach to slavery was both political and economic, and that is why it went against the most basic romantic instincts of American abolitionism.

As a result of his political evolution, the political distance between Lincoln and abolitionists gradually expanded. Lincoln considered (and his view was, probably, justified) abolitionism as a form of religion. Lincoln associated abolitionism with excitement, but excitement was something he feared to inject into masses. That does not mean, however, that Lincolns emancipation of slaves was totally devoid of emotions. It is very probable that the emancipation of slaves was a form of emotional concession granted by the President to the masses, but Lincoln did his best to preserve and maintain his reasonable orientation in politics. The Thirteenth Amendment became an excellent reflection of his reasonable beliefs in abolition. The emancipation of slaves did not change Lincolns views about abolitionism nor could he accept the affection and excitement of the masses. What Lincoln did to abolish slavery dramatically differed from the way abolitionists expected it would be  instead of applying to religiosity, evangelism, immediacy, and revivalistic demands, Lincoln based his judgments on gradualism and political reason. Those were the economic and social consequences of the abolition of slavery that kept Lincoln in opposition to abolitionism. Is it possible to say that Lincoln transformed the meaning of abolitionism, making it more reasonable and economically justified Probably, it is, but in ways that abolitionism persisted in America in the 19th century, Lincoln can be fairly regarded as the true opponent of the romantic abolitionist movements in his country.

Conclusion
One question that speaks to several issues in relation to slavery in America is whether Abraham Lincoln was an abolitionist. That Lincoln was the one to abolish slavery in America often grants him the status of the central figure in 19th century American abolitionism. This, however, is an erroneous view. Abraham Lincoln was not an abolitionist because his political sentiments did not support romanticism and immediacy of abolitionism in America. Lincolns political beliefs rested on reason and economic sense. Lincoln was often misunderstood for his reluctance to abolish slavery. However, the only motive that took Lincoln from immediate abolition was in that he could predict the negative political and economic consequences of such immediacy. Whether Lincoln transformed the vision of abolitionism in America is difficult to define, but the way in which abolitionism was presented to Americans turned Lincoln into its direct opponent, creating a gap of misunderstanding between him and those who called themselves abolitionists.