Yes in MY opinion Lincoln lied in 1860 about his intentions as to recommending the abolition of slavery in the District Of Columbia. Now I do not believe he knew exactly when he was going to do but in MY opinion it was his plan to based on his attempt to in 1849. Lincoln never relinquished that thought / idea/ plan.
Lincoln was answering Mr. Gilmer's letter which must have contained 6 questions. Lincoln answered each. One question, I must assume asked if he (Lincoln) planned on abolishing slavery in the District Of Columbia. Lincoln stated "
I have no thought of recommending the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, nor the slave trade among the slave states, even on the conditions indicated; and if I were to make such recommendation, it is quite clear Congress would not follow it. "
He had the thought back in 1849 and never relinquished it.
Respectfully,
William Richardson
See, I just don't get it. Why on earth would Lincoln want to propose abolishing slavery right when the nation was in the throes of disunion, and the congress was doing everything to take the issue of slavery off the table (via, for example, Corwin or Crittenden.)
What you're suggesting is not that Lincoln was a liar; you're suggesting he was a complete idiot, to be thinking of DC abolition at such a time.
I suspect Gilmer asked Lincoln that question precisely because Lincoln had indicated his support for DC abolition in the past. Lincoln got to the point: I have no thought of doing that (
now) and the Congress would not pass it (
now). Once the political environment changed, however, Lincoln - and the Congress - were free to pursue other policies. But at the time Lincoln responded to Gilmer, nobody knew that the political environment would change.
IF Lincoln had the power of clairvoyance, and knew it was inevitable that the opportunity, in a divided nation at war whose Congress was warming to the idea of emancipation, to end slavery in the District would come up; then yes, you could say was he lying. But his actions throughout the war seem to indicate he lacked such powers of precognition.
- Alan
PS: This is just like Lincoln, in his 1st Inauguration Speech, and Congress, in a resolution, said they had no desire to end domestic institutions where they stood, ie, they had no plans to end slavery. I believe they were genuine when they said that; protecting slavery where it was seemed like a good compromise to make to avoid war.
But when the Confederate States stayed out the Union and continued their war with the USA, different policies and strategies were considered and implemented. In his 2nd Inauguration Speech, Lincoln said that initially nobody thought that the cause of war (ie, slavery) would end as a result of the war... but it did. Nobody was thinking it would happen back in 1861... certainly not Abraham Lincoln (although many were hoping it would happen).
Bringing the