re: Remembering Former LSU President on Anniversary of his Birth

Lincoln did in fact abhor slavery from the time he traveled to New Orleans as a young man and witnessed a slave auction. He was also a pragmatist whose first priority was preserving the Union in the most expeditious manner possible. Hence his famous quote.

Most northerners were antislavery to one degree or another while at the same time most of them didn't see blacks as full equals. The war didn't start out as an antislavery crusade, it was one region attempting to break up the country vs another region trying to prevent it. But slavery was the primary cause of the schism.