During the rather controversial period of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln was looked upon as the Great Emancipator, but further evidence has been gathered that leaves historians questioning Lincoln’s true character and motives. One man in particular, Lerone Bennett Jr., an African American scholar and social historian, argues that Lincoln had no passion or intention of ultimately ending slavery in his article “Lincoln, a White Supremacist (1968).” The period in which Bennett was writing could have had a strong influence on his feelings towards Lincoln being a white supremacist. In the late 1960s, the Civil Rights Movement was tense; especially after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., a leader of the Negro Civil Rights Movement. Thus
…show more content…
The main idea Bennett was trying to project was that Lincoln, though coming off as a sympathetic abolitionist, was actually a close minded white supremacist who only took measures such as signing the Emancipation Proclamation and Thirteenth Amendment as political strategies; not for the good of the black slaves. Bennett’s purpose in writing the article was to convey the newly obtained evidence and express his theories on why this evidence proves Lincoln was a white supremacist. His point of view is that Lincoln valued the concerns of white people before the suffering of the black enslaved Americans. This could be rooted with the fact that Bennett grew up in a segregated society and attended a segregated school under the state system. Although Bennett failed to definitively show that Lincoln was a white supremacist because he favored whites over blacks, Bennett successfully argued that Lincoln was a supporter of white supremacy by providing Lincoln’s hesitation on the signing of the very documents he is famous for, and his non confrontational stance on slavery at the beginning of his term compared to the …show more content…
Bennett feels that it was the events taking place around Lincoln that really influenced him to take the actions that he did; it was not his own moral intentions. Even before Lincoln was president, he would not act out on slavery. One man, Mark E. Neely Jr., a Pulitzer Prize-winning American historian, feels that Lincoln had always kept quiet about the topic of slavery. Lincoln was sailing back to Illinois in 1841 (about twenty years before entering office) from a trip in Kentucky when he saw a handful of slaves aboard. This was one of Lincoln’s first times actually seeing slaves in person, but just as he first entered the political fields, he had no reaction to the sight whatsoever. (Neely, Jr., p. 456, 2009). During this time Lincoln was roughly thirty-two, well mature, and educated enough to have had developed opinions to the sight of slavery. Author Allen C. Guelzo, a professor who majored in the Civil War era, also quoted Lincoln in his article, “Lincoln, Race, and Slavery: A Biographical Overview” saying, “I am naturally anti-slavery. If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong. I can not remember when I did not so think, and feel" (:). Slavery was "a monstrous injustice" and "the sum of ail villainies"” (Guelzo, 2007, p. 14). Multiple sources claim
The main idea Bennett was trying to project was that Lincoln, though coming off as a sympathetic abolitionist, was actually a close minded white supremacist who only took measures such as signing the Emancipation Proclamation and Thirteenth Amendment as political strategies; not for the good of the black slaves. Bennett’s purpose in writing the article was to convey the newly obtained evidence and express his theories on why this evidence proves Lincoln was a white supremacist. His point of view is that Lincoln valued the concerns of white people before the suffering of the black enslaved Americans. This could be rooted with the fact that Bennett grew up in a segregated society and attended a segregated school under the state system. Although Bennett failed to definitively show that Lincoln was a white supremacist because he favored whites over blacks, Bennett successfully argued that Lincoln was a supporter of white supremacy by providing Lincoln’s hesitation on the signing of the very documents he is famous for, and his non confrontational stance on slavery at the beginning of his term compared to the …show more content…
Bennett feels that it was the events taking place around Lincoln that really influenced him to take the actions that he did; it was not his own moral intentions. Even before Lincoln was president, he would not act out on slavery. One man, Mark E. Neely Jr., a Pulitzer Prize-winning American historian, feels that Lincoln had always kept quiet about the topic of slavery. Lincoln was sailing back to Illinois in 1841 (about twenty years before entering office) from a trip in Kentucky when he saw a handful of slaves aboard. This was one of Lincoln’s first times actually seeing slaves in person, but just as he first entered the political fields, he had no reaction to the sight whatsoever. (Neely, Jr., p. 456, 2009). During this time Lincoln was roughly thirty-two, well mature, and educated enough to have had developed opinions to the sight of slavery. Author Allen C. Guelzo, a professor who majored in the Civil War era, also quoted Lincoln in his article, “Lincoln, Race, and Slavery: A Biographical Overview” saying, “I am naturally anti-slavery. If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong. I can not remember when I did not so think, and feel" (:). Slavery was "a monstrous injustice" and "the sum of ail villainies"” (Guelzo, 2007, p. 14). Multiple sources claim