If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that.
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That does NOT mean Lincoln was not opposed to slavery, simply that he did not intend to end slavery at the cost of the Union. Lincoln articulated clearly and repeatedly that he thought slavery was wrong, and evil, and that the assertion in the Declaration of Independence that all men are created equal applied to Africans as well as whites.