Letter to a Citizen of Kentucky, an excerpt
Executive Mansion, Washington,
April 4, 1864.
A. G. Hodges, Esq., Frankfort, Ky.
My Dear Sir:
You ask me to put in writing the substance of what I verbally stated the other day, in your presence, to Governor Bramlette and Senator Dixon. It was about as follows:
I am naturally anti-slavery. If slavery is not wrong nothing is wrong. I cannot remember when I did not so think and feel; and yet I have never understood that the Presidency conferred upon me an unrestricted right to act officially in this judgment and feeling. It was in the oath I took that I would to the best of my ability preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. I could not take the office without taking the oath. Nor was it in my view that I might take the oath to get power, and break the oath in using the power.
I understood, too, that in ordinary civil administration this oath even forbade me to practically indulge my primary abstract judgment on the moral question of slavery. I had publicly declared this many times and in many ways; and I aver that, to this day I have done no official act in mere deference to my abstract judgment and feeling on slavery. I did understand, however, that my oath to preserve the Constitution to the best of my ability imposed upon me the duty of preserving, by every indispensable means, that government, that nation, of which that Constitution was the organic law. Was it possible to lose the nation, and yet preserve the Constitution?
By general law, life and limb must be protected; yet often a limb must be amputated to save a life, but a life is never wisely given to save a limb. I felt that measures, otherwise unconstitutional, might become lawful by becoming indispensable to the preservation of the Constitution through the preservation of the nation. Right or wrong, I assumed this ground, and now avow it. I could not feel that to the best of my ability I had even tried to preserve the Constitution, if, to save slavery, or any minor matter, I should permit the wreck of government, country, and Constitution altogether.
When, early in the war, General Fremont attempted military emancipation, I forbade it, because I did not then think it an indispensable necessity. When, a little later, General Cameron, then Secretary of War, suggested the arming of the blacks, I objected, because I did not yet think it an indispensable necessity. When, still later, General Hunter attempted military emancipation, I forbade it, because I did not yet think the indispensable necessity had come. When, in March and May and July, 1862, I made earnest and successive appeals to the Border States to favor compensated emancipation, I believed the indispensable necessity for military emancipation and arming the blacks would come, unless averted by that measure. They declined the proposition; and I was, in my best judgment, driven to the alternative of either surrendering the Union, and with it the Constitution, or of laying strong hand upon the colored element. I chose the latter. In choosing it, I hoped for greater gain than loss; but of this I was not entirely confident...
Yours truly,
A. Lincoln
What does the letter suggest Lincoln believed was his primary responsibility with regard to the issue of slavery?
Be sure to use evidence from the text to support your answer.
Lincoln believed his primary responsibility was to protect the Constitution and the government of the United States. This responsibility did not include his own anti-slavery feelings.
" It was in the oath I took that I would to the best of my ability preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. I could not take the office without taking the oath. Nor was it in my view that I might take the oath to get power, and break the oath in using the power.
I understood, too, that in ordinary civil administration this oath even forbade me to practically indulge my primary abstract judgment on the moral question of slavery. "
The letter suggests that Lincoln believed his primary responsibility with regard to the issue of slavery was to preserve the Constitution and the nation. He emphasizes that he took an oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution to the best of his ability, and he believed that this duty required him to preserve the government and the nation above all else. Lincoln states that he did not believe the Presidency conferred upon him an unrestricted right to act officially on his anti-slavery views, and he had publicly declared multiple times that he would not let his personal judgment on the moral question of slavery interfere with his duty to preserve the Constitution.
Lincoln also discusses his decision-making process when it came to emancipation. He mentions that he initially forbade military emancipation when General Fremont attempted it, as he did not believe it was an indispensable necessity at that time. He further states that he objected to the arming of the blacks suggested by General Cameron, as he did not yet see it as an indispensable necessity. However, Lincoln explains that he eventually came to the conclusion that military emancipation and arming the blacks became indispensable necessities for the preservation of the Constitution and the nation. This indicates that Lincoln's primary responsibility was to make decisions based on what he believed was necessary to preserve the Union, even if it meant taking actions that might be seen as unconstitutional.
Overall, the letter suggests that Lincoln believed his primary responsibility with regard to the issue of slavery was to preserve the Constitution and the nation, even if it meant making decisions that went against his personal anti-slavery beliefs.