Lincoln and the Abolitionists History Research Assignment

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Lincoln and the Abolitionists
The article is all about the Abraham Lincoln and his stand regarding the issue of slavery in the United States, his role in the emancipation of approximately 2 million black slaves. Although Lincolns is acknowledged as the Great Emancipator due to the role he played in the abolition of slavery, some historians still hold him with suspicion as a racist who secretly supported slavery. To such historians, Lincoln advocated for racial segregation and opposed black people’ political and civil rights. The issue of Lincoln and his political stands has created two schools of thought, with one school claiming that he was largely against slavery while the other claiming that her was a supporter of slaver (Pearson Custom Publishing n.p). The author thus presents arguments and counterargument on the issue with the aim of helping the reader to articulate his or her opinion on it. As one reads though the text, the question that comes in mind is: Was Lincoln an abolitionist or a white racist who embraced the concept of abolitionism for pragmatic political reasons? To find an answer to this question, the author addresses the issue from both sides by bringing up antagonistic perceptions and opinions of historians and politicians, and other great scholars of the time.
Understanding Lincoln’s real stand on slavery as well as his place in the history of the end of slavery is of great significance. Notably, it will facilitate scholars to formulate key assumptions regarding Lincoln’s role in the American reform movements during the nineteenth century. The text points out that the almost all abolitionists unanimously disliked Lincoln due to his uncertain position on slavery. Particularly, Illinois abolitionists held him with suspicion as a suspect recruit in the antislavery movement. Such suspicion deepened when he came to the limelight as the Republican Party’s presidential candidate. In particular, a certain theologian described Lincoln as a man with great forensic powers and intellectual ability but who’s score of humanity towards slavery was too low (Pearson Custom Publishing). Additionally, even black abolitionists held Lincoln with suspicion during his presidential campaign. This suspicion partly originated from Lincoln’s position on the so-called “Testimony Law”. In light of this, one of the black abolitionists, H. Ford Douglass alleged that failed to sign a petition that was proposing for the repealing of the Testimony Law. This law prohibit...