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Abraham Lincoln: Dark Side of a Liberaor  Abraham Lincoln: Dark Side of a Liberatorby David Sztybel, Ph.D. Many animal rightists know about the quote attributed to Abraham Lincoln: "Iam in favour of animal rights as well as human rights. That isthe way of the whole human being." The question of itsauthenticity intrigued me, for I admire the man, and used thequote in a pamphlet-in-progress.This prompted me to do a search through Lincoln's works to seeif they contained those words (in that order!). So far in scanning his complete works, I never found those felicific words. I didfind some things he did say which may be of interest, though, andwhich tarnished my admiration of him. It will be objected that Lincoln was a creature of his times, and it is not fair to single him out given the racist idiom of his day. This should inform our judgment, to be sure. However, racism can always be challenged and not everyone thought blacks were inferior or deserving of poor treatment. Also, we need to get a historical perspective on abolitionist thought. I do not just mean the abolition of slavery, but of racism more generally. It is certainly interesting and worthwhile to explore how racist ideologies of the time manifest in one of the greatest American presidents and abolitionists.Let us begin with the following quotation:And now why will you ask us to deny the humanity of the slave? andestimate him only as the equal of the hog?(Abraham Lincoln, The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, v. 2[New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1953], p. 265. Speech at Peoria, Ill., Oct. 16, 1854)He still could have granted animal rights, just lesser rightsthan humans. He created a number of images involving killing orharsh treatment of animals. Here is one pertaining to theAmerican Civil War:If the head of Lee's army is at Martinsburg and thetail of it on the Plank road between Fredericksburg andChancellorsville, the animal must be slim somewhere. Could younot break him?(v. 6, p. 273. To Major-General Hooker, June 14,1863)He still could have thought animals have some kind of rights.What I did not know is how profoundly racist Lincoln was,notwithstanding his opposition to slavery. Sure, he was a man ofhis times, and might have been thought to have been merelypreserving his dignity when he said:We can [oppose slavery] without being called negro worshippers. (v. 3, p. 423. Speech at Columbus, Ohio, Sept. 16, 1859)Animal rightists might not want to be called animalworshippers, either. But did he still hold blacks to be hisequals?Negro equality! Fudge! [19th c. equivalent of...] How long, in the government of a God, great enough to make andmaintain this Universe, shall there continue knaves to vend, andfools to gulp, so low a piece of demagougism [sp.-DS] as this.(v. 3, p. 399. Fragments: Notes for Speeches, Sept. 6, 1859)Hmmm... Well, maybe he held that blacks have rights too, andso do animals, but in a descending hierarchy of some kind. He isless ambiguous here:I will say, then, that I am not, nor ever have been, in favor ofbringing about in any way the social and political equality of thewhite and black races--that I am not nor ever have been in favorof making voters or jurors of negroes, nor of qualifying them tohold office, nor to intermarry with white people; and I will sayin addition to this that there is a physical difference betweenthe white and black races which will ever forbid the two racesliving together in terms of social and political equality. Andinasmuch as they cannot so live, while they do remain together,there must be the position of superior and inferior. I am as muchas any other man in favor of having the superior position assignedto the white race....notwithstanding all this, there is no reason in the worldwhy the negro is not entitled to all the rights enumerated in theDeclaration of Independence--the right of life, liberty and thepursuit of happiness. I hold that he is as much entitled to theseas the white man. I agree with Judge Douglas that he is not myequal in many respects, certainly not in color--perhaps not inintellectual and moral endowments; but in the right to eat breadwithout leave of anybody else which his own hand earns [theRepublican version of what the other rights amount to?], he is myequal and the equal of Judge Douglas and the equal of every otherman.(v. 3, pp. 247-8. Sixth Debate with Steven A. Douglas at Quincy, Ill., Oct.13, 1858)It did not stop there. Later, Lincoln addressed a blackaudience, and insultingly told them what to go do with themselves. His views go beyond apartheid to actual deportation of the blackpeople of America:But for your race among us there could not be war, although manymen engaged on either side do not care for you one way or theother. Nevertheless, I repeat, without the institution of Slaveryand the colored race as a basis, the war could not have anexistence [blame the victim].It is better for us both, therefore, to be separated. ...Isuppose one of the principal difficulties in the way ofcolonization is that the free colored man cannot see that hiscomfort would be advanced by it. You may believe you can live inWashington or elsewhere in the United States the remainder of yourlife, perhaps more so than in any foreign country, and hence youhave come to the conclusion that you have nothing to do with theidea of going to a foreign country. This is (I speak in no unkindsense) an extremely selfish view of the case.(v. 5, pp. 372-5. Address on Colonization to a Deputation ofNegroes, Aug. 14, 1862)He then urges the blacks in the audience to make a sacrifice,like those fighting the South in the war, and establish and moveto a colony in Central America where they can mine coal.So much for Lincoln the liberator and lover of all races. Whatabout Honest Abe? We have him denouncing the Democrats in what isnow a familiar turn of phrase:The plain facts, as they appear to me, are these. Theadministration came into power, very largely in a minority of thepopular vote. Notwithstanding this, it distributed to it's [sic-DS] party friends as nearly all the civil patronage as anyadministration ever did.(v. 5, p. 494. Nov. 10, 1862)Yet there are many memoranda where he requests the appointmentof the "son of a particular friend of mine" (v. 5, p. 552) or of ayoung man whose "father is one of my best friends" (v. 4, p. 456).No reasons of merit are given in such cases.Still you have to admire his opposition to slavery, in thefollowing, rooted in the Golden Rule: "Whenever I hear any one,arguing for slavery I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on himpersonally." (v. 8, p. 361. Speech to One Hundred FortiethIndiana Regiment, Mar. 17, 1865). Notwithstanding, I am droppinghim from my list of quotes (especially since I have heard that atleast one Lincoln scholar also doubts the authenticity of themaxim in question). click on your home to go to home page |
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