re: Charlottesville unanimously votes to remove Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson statues

quote:

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I think sugar 71 is right here. Sure, Lincoln was a pragmatist and he looked for practical solutions to the slavery issue. He wasn't woke by today's standards.

But the Republican Party was founded as an anti-slavery party, and the Confederate states started seceding as soon as Lincoln was elected. They certainly saw Lincoln as a threat to slavery. And in his heart and soul, Lincoln despised slavery.

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I don't judge Lincoln/ others by today's standards , but I do compare them to their peers. Even Lincoln falls short compared to other politicians like Thad Stevens , Charles Sumner or more moderates like Seward or Hannibal Hamlin. I'm aware that politicians I'd vote for would have a difficult time being elected President in 1860( Salmon P Chase, Thad Stevens, Charles Sumner , etc...were considered " extremists" in 1860)



I'd have preferred William Seward over Lincoln out of the moderates , but........ Lincoln eventually did the right thing with pressure from within his party. I believe the Emancipation Proclamation would have been issued years before & Black troops allowed to volunteer years before had Seward been President instead of Lincoln. The war may not have dragged on as long with President Seward instead of Lincoln.