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Old 2008-11-10, 19:25   Link #28
yezhanquan
Observer/Bookman wannabe
 
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Singapore
Age: 38
Quote:
Originally Posted by Irenicus View Post
Mind, I suspect Lincoln started out pragmatic and not nearly as concerned for black fate as he is portrayed now, but I sincerely believe that along the way he bought his own rhetoric and took the issue in a new light.
You were right. Above all, his primary aim was to keep the Union intact. However, as the Civil War goes on, and Union troops on the ground began freeing the slaves in lands where they marched into, Abe was soon moved to recognise that slavery had to go.

For the failures of Reconstruction, Andrew Johnson's place in history had been shifting. I myself had not yet decided where he stands, but I believe Jim Crow was a combined effort by all the whites who were not ready to give the blacks their vote.
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