This was not
true. Both Lincoln and the Republican Party had decided that the
Anti-slave issue was not a broad enough platform on which to win
an election. While Lincoln had made it clear that he himself
opposed slavery, he also insisted that his political position, as
well as that of the party, was to oppose the extension of slavery
rather than to abolish it.
Although he emphasized different beliefs in varying localities,
he still maintained that, while he opposed the enslavement of
human beings, he did not view Africans as equals. He was
convinced that there was a wide social gap between whites and
blacks, and he indicated that he had grave doubts about extending
equal political rights to Afro-Americans. Besides opposing
slavery, he believed that racial differences pointed to the
necessity for the separation of the two races, and he favored a
policy of emigration. However, he had no interest in forcing
either abolition or emigration on anyone.
His political goals were to increase national unity, to suppress
the extension of slavery, to encourage voluntary emancipation,
and to stimulate volitional emigration.
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