This is nonsense...respect for the Constitution would have ended slavery...and would have done so peacefully and without the abuse of the Constitutional limits on the power of the federal government that Lincoln engineered.
Of course, Abraham Lincoln supported the Fugitive Slave Act... an unconstitutional act of sweeping federal power designed to protect slavery in the southern states as an inducement to keep the southern states in the union. At the Hampton Roads Peace Conference, Lincoln assured the Confederate representatives that, if they re-joined the union, the Emancipation Proclamation would become inoperative. Moreover, at that conference, Lincoln and Seward attempted to persuade the confederate states to re-join the Union by reminding them that they could defeat the pending 13th Amendment that would have ended slavery in the US...an amendment that was sure to pass unless the southern states re-joined the union. Lincoln himself, in his first inaugural address, expressed support for the original proposed 13th Amendment...which would have protected slavery wherever it then existed. Lincoln had little moral concern about slavery and great concern about "preserving the union"...but at what cost and why? Why the need to have sovereign states submit unwillingly to rule from Washington DC?
That people who believe themselves to be Constitutional conservatives support and even deify Lincoln is quite strange. Lincoln's countless unconstitutional actions put in motion and made possible the centralization of power in the federal government during the 20th century and the effective end of the Constitution and the Founders' vision of a decentralized republic designed to keep government power in check
"That people who believe themselves to be Constitutional conservatives support and even deify Lincoln is quite strange. Lincoln's countless unconstitutional actions put in motion and made possible the centralization of power in the federal government during the 20th century and the effective end of the Constitution and the Founders' vision of a decentralized republic designed to keep government power in check."
There ya go! Perfect. Perfect. Perfect. You get 3 stars and a brownie button for this post! Lincoln did a substantial amount of unconstitutional things...Most importantly, is he paved the way for the extreme centralization of government that we see today. He also put forth the idea that it's okay if we are mean, rude and nasty to one another. Oh, I forgot the beating up part. How much sense does it make for a country to attack itself. And no...nobody was trying to install a new government...so no definitions of civil war, please. I think immature, sounds like a good reason for what Lincoln did!
Inaccurate. In his preliminary EP issued after Antietam in 1862, Lincoln offered to exempt any state from its provision that returned to its allegiance by January 1, 1863. None did.
At the HRPC, Lincoln had only two absolute requirements, return to the Union and abolition of slavery. Anything else was negotiable. As these were also the Confederacy's non-negotiable issues, only in reverse, nothing was settled.
Moreover, at that conference, Lincoln and Seward attempted to persuade the confederate states to re-join the Union by reminding them that they could defeat the pending 13th Amendment that would have ended slavery in the US...an amendment that was sure to pass unless the southern states re-joined the union.
I've read a number of accounts of this conference, but never heard of this. What's your source? It sounds like something Lincoln would have done much earlier in the war, but not in February of 1865.
More Civil War stuff.
And just how would that have happened? If the southern states so valued their institution of slavery that they were willing to launch a rebellion to protect it then under what circumstances do you think they would they be willing to change their mind and allow the central government to outlaw it?
Of course, Abraham Lincoln supported the Fugitive Slave Act... an unconstitutional act of sweeping federal power designed to protect slavery in the southern states as an inducement to keep the southern states in the union.
As odious as it was, how was the Fugitive Slave Act unconsitutional in light of the Article IV, Section 2, Clause 3? Lincoln's reluctant support of the Fugitive Slave Act was based on a respect for the constitution not seen in most southern leaders.
At the Hampton Roads Peace Conference, Lincoln assured the Confederate representatives that, if they re-joined the union, the Emancipation Proclamation would become inoperative...
A bit of an exaggeration, but if your point is that Lincoln did not pursue the war that the south forced upon him in order to end slavery then I have no arguement with that. The end of slavery may have been a fortunate outcome of the war, but preservation of the Union was the reason for the struggle on the Union side. Always was.
Lincoln's countless unconstitutional actions...
How about naming a few?
My friend, your facts are clearly wrong. Lincoln, at Hampton Roads, told the Confederates that the Emancipation Proclamation Would Not Be Changed and that he intended to see the 13th Amendment enacted. His only concession was offering to compensate slave owners for their losses.
Look it up.