Essays: 2011 Hildene Brown 8th Grade Lincoln Essay Contest Winners
2nd Place Essay by Isabella Crema
In response to the question: "If Lincoln was willing to tolerate slavery in the southern states, why was he so vehemently opposed to its expansion into the territories?"
As slavery was poised to spread west, Abraham Lincoln was forced to take a stand and prevent its extension to the country’s newly acquired land. This vast expanse of arable terrain was desirable to slave-owning planters which could result in the introduction of America’s “peculiar institution” to the West. The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 put mounting pressure on Lincoln due to the doctrine of popular sovereignty embedded in it. Lincoln opposed this proposition in his debates with Stephen Douglas and although he was willing to tolerate slavery in the South, he was fervently opposed to its expansion. Lincoln’s dilemma was to resolve the institutionalization of southern slavery in the United States Constitution while simultaneously condemning southern efforts to make slavery legal in the west.
Despite his opposition to slavery, Lincoln had reasons to tolerate its practice in the South. Lincoln held the belief that slavery was inhumane, immoral, and undemocratic and his willingness to endure it was in the interest of preserving the Union. The constant threat of secession of the southern states left the Union in a fragile state which could easily be disrupted if slavery was removed from the South. Slavery was not only vital to the Southern economy but was a necessity for the purpose of maintaining the country’s unity.
Lincoln was reluctant to augment slavery because he felt that if it was allowed within the territories, that land would not be properly utilized. In his Peoria Speech he explicitly stated that the territories gave disadvantaged white citizens opportunity which slavery in the West would deny them. The Southern economy was primarily based on plantations which he proclaimed, left little room for poor people to “go and better their condition.” Lincoln’s motivation for merely tolerating slavery in the southern states was solely based on economic necessity. The strength of the southern economy hinged on the fact that slave labor produced lucrative goods such as cotton, sugar, and rice which were then sold to northern factories.
In the 1800s, the territories gave underprivileged white people vital opportunities to improve their social and economic condition which a slave-holder dominated west would deny them. Territories could not be taken advantage of to any extent for this purpose if slavery was to be permitted within them. “Slave states are places for poor white people to remove from; not remove to,” he affirmed, elaborating on this key point.
This controversial debate marked one of the most prominent struggles in Lincoln’s political career and his opposition to legalizing slavery in Kansas was a long term political strategy. Lincoln had a desire to “make and to keep the distinction between the existing institution, and the extension of it” however, he still acknowledged that slavery was a vital part of the United States.