2017/04/20 by Arna Bontemps · 1 citation
Social Sciences · Business, Management and Accounting · #American Constitutional Law and Politics #American History and Culture
paper · doi:10.5406/illinois/9780252037696.003.0005
openalex publication_date 2017/04/20 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
This chapter discusses the role of Abraham Lincoln in the fight against slavery in Illinois. Among the people who abhorred slavery were some who objected to having large numbers of Negroes for neighbors. Two types of anti-slavery sentiment arose, one based upon moral principles and the other upon economic principles. There were those who advocated abolition to elevate the Negro to citizenship and those who objected to slavery merely because it was an economic evil. This chapter considers the divided opinion on the problem of the freed Negro, led by the American Colonization Society, who disseminated propaganda against the Negro, and Lincoln, who was sympathetic toward the plan to colonize freed Negroes. It also examines how Lincoln, an astute politician, steered a course midway between the two points of view, and concludes with a look at his friendship with William de Fleurville of Springfield.