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To: JeffersonDavis
But this goes to the heart of the matter. A TRUE abolitionist would never had made exemptions, no matter the cause.

Poppycock. A TRUE abolitionist -- especially when he happens also to be president of a country at war -- would have been supremely stupid and irresonsible to ignore practical realities. Lincoln was neither stupid nor irresponsible. He was well aware of the realities, chief among which was the fact that preservation of the Union was a necessary precondition of abolition.

To judge fairly whether Lincoln was something less than an abolitionist requires us to speculate about his post-war approach to slavery. To believe that Lincoln wasn't a "real" abolitionist requires you to believe that Lincoln would have opposed the 13th Amendment -- an idea that is well-nigh indefensible.

138 posted on 05/03/2002 2:12:46 PM PDT by r9etb
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