Friendship Between Douglass And Abraham Lincoln

Great Essays
A) Lincolns overall goal in getting involved with politics was to persuade as many Americans as possible that slavery was wrong. Lincolns goal was “not so much to end slavery immediately as to restore immediately the consensus that slavery should be ended” (81). It seemed that just talking to the public wasn’t enough. The south had created a slave culture and way of life that brainwashed them into thinking that slavery was a necessary evil. Generation after generation adopted this way of thinking in the south and the evil they were committing which should seem obvious to a normal person didn’t even occur to the southern population. The issue had to be squashed immediately and if slavery continued on its reckless course America would be doomed. Thus drastic measures had to be taken. …show more content…
They saw Abraham Lincoln, the most powerful man in the country establish a close friendship with Fredrick Douglass an African American man. Douglass wanted to congratulate Lincoln on his second inaugural address but was stopped at the door because the guard has been instructed “to admit no persons of color” (242) But Douglass held his ground and requested to speak to Lincoln himself whom spotted Douglass and took him by the hand. Douglass insisted that Lincoln go shake the hands of everyone waiting but Lincoln claimed that “there’s no man in the country who’s opinion I value more than yours”(242) This public display of friendship with Douglass, opened the nations eyes and created a new precedent of acceptance towards African Americans. Douglass and Lincoln remained close friends until his tragic death to which Douglass was called to recite a eulogy. Even after his death Douglass made sure that Lincolns legacy was not forgotten and gave several speeches as well as published books honoring him and the great impact he made on

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