[driftless2]

I've read that quote many times. My previous posts already stated that Lincoln's objective was not to free the slaves but to save the union.

However, Lincoln was definitely anti-slavery...just not as much as the Abolitionists. If the North didn't care about slavery, they wouldn't have passed the thirteenth amendment after the war.

[WayneS]

Okay.

But you originally stated that Lincoln was ahead of his countrymen on the issue of slavery.

How could he have been both “ahead of his countrymen”, and not as anti-slavery as the abolitionists?

[driftless2]

Show me the quote where I said he was ahead of his countrymen? I can't find it in any my posts.

Certainly, there were a number of Northerners who didn't care either way about the issue, and he was obviously ahead of them. But he wasn't as fanatical as the Abolitionists. And the Abolitionists were not real popular in the North and did not constitute a significant pct. (two percent) of the Northern population.