[old republic]

"And Lincoln actually did the Blacks no favor when he 'freed' them so they could work in the northern industrial explosion!"

Technically its true. Abraham Lincoln and most Northerners didn't fight the Civil War over slavery. They mainly fought the war in order to preserve the Union. The Emancipation Proclamation issued on January 1, 1863 only freed slaves in areas engaged in rebellion. It was a way to bring the South into submission during the war. Slavery was still legal in the states that did not secede. Abraham Lincoln also wanted to send the freed slaves back to Africa which is an interesting slant on the Great Emancipator.

[blaquebyrd]

Regardless of the reasons why America didn't live up to it's promise that all men are created equal, I'm proud to say that we finally came around. Now we can say to the rest of the world that we practice what we preach and spread true freedom all over the world without looking like hypocrites. There's nothing wrong with being proud of ones heritage, personally I prefer to salute the flag I proudly defended for 20 years. The flag that stands for freedom!

[PMCarey]

Abraham Lincoln also wanted to send the freed slaves back to Africa which is an interesting slant on the Great Emancipator.

Actually Lincoln looked at this as a possible solution to the cultural problems of trying to integrate free blacks into white society. Considering that a civil war was being fought with that as one of the major issues, one has to accept that this was definitely a problem. However Lincoln never advocated making such exportation mandatory and his thoughts on it were purely speculative.

[Main Street]

"Technically its true. Abraham Lincoln and most Northerners didn't fight the Civil War over slavery. They mainly fought the war in order to preserve the Union. The Emancipation Proclamation issued on January 1, 1863 only freed slaves in areas engaged in rebellion. It was a way to bring the South into submission during the war. Slavery was still legal in the states that did not secede. Abraham Lincoln also wanted to send the freed slaves back to Africa which is an interesting slant on the Great Emancipator."

Lincoln was a sincere and devoted abolitionist. There is no doubt that he wanted the slaves to be free. His second Inaugural Address leaves no doubt that in his mind the war was fought to free the slaves. However, you must remember, his first priority in the war was to preserve the Union. Not only because that is what he was sworn to do when he took the oath as President , but also, and most importantly, because if he didn't preserve the Union, he could not have freed any slaves.

[seppel]

The slavery issue was a good moral underpinning for the North. In addition the North knew that Southerners would have to bear the brunt of social adjustments.

[Non-Sequitur]

Abraham Lincoln also wanted to send the freed slaves back to Africa which is an interesting slant on the Great Emancipator.

So did Robert Lee, John Breckenridge, James Monroe, etc., etc.