Slavery Quotes by Abraham Lincoln

“I am naturally anti-slavery. If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong.”

— Abraham Lincoln

Free labor has the inspiration of hope; pure slavery has no hope.

— Abraham Lincoln

You know I dislike slavery; and you fully admit the abstract wrong of it.

— Abraham Lincoln

I have always hated slavery, I think as much as any Abolitionist.

— Abraham Lincoln

We must free the slaves or be ourselves subdued.

— Abraham Lincoln

If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong.

— Abraham Lincoln

In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free.

— Abraham Lincoln

I am a little uneasy about the abolishment of slavery in this District of Columbia.

— Abraham Lincoln

Without slavery the rebellion could never have existed; without slavery it could not continue.

— Abraham Lincoln

Slavery is wrong. If Slavery is right, all words, acts, laws, and Constitutions against it, are themselves wrong, and should be silenced,…

— Abraham Lincoln

Slavery is founded in the selfishness of man's nature-oppositi on to it is in his love of justice.

— Abraham Lincoln

In the present civil war it is quite possible that God's purpose is something different from the purpose of either party.

— Abraham Lincoln

Let there be no compromise on the question of extending slavery. If there be, all our labor is lost, and, ere long,…

— Abraham Lincoln

I hate it because of the monstrous injustice of slavery itself. I hate it because it deprives our republican example of its…

— Abraham Lincoln

What has ever threatened our liberty and prosperity save and except this institution of Slavery?

— Abraham Lincoln

An inspection of the Constitution will show that the right of property in a slave in not "distinctly and expressly affirmed" in…

— Abraham Lincoln

The slave-breeders and slave-traders, are a small, odious and detested class, among you; and yet in politics, they dictate the course of…

— Abraham Lincoln

Oh, yes; you Virginians shed barrels of perspiration while standing off at a distance and superintending the work your slaves do for…

— Abraham Lincoln

"We must free the slaves or be ourselves subdued. The slaves were undeniably a element of strength to those who had their…

— Abraham Lincoln

The ant, who has toiled and dragged a crumb to his nest, will furiously defend the fruit of his labor, against whatever…

— Abraham Lincoln

“I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe…

— Abraham Lincoln

We think slavery a great moral wrong, and while we do not claim the right to touch it where it exists, we…

— Abraham Lincoln

Now what is Judge Douglas Popular Sovereignty? It is, as a principle, no other than that, if one man chooses to make…

— Abraham Lincoln

I am naturally anti-slavery. If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong. I can not remember when I did not so think,…

— Abraham Lincoln

I repeat the declaration made a year ago, that 'while I remain in my present position I shall not attempt to retract…

— Abraham Lincoln

Now, I confess myself as belonging to that class in the country who contemplate slavery as a moral, social and political evil,…

— Abraham Lincoln

I hold it to be a paramount duty of us in the free states, due to the Union of the states, and…

— Abraham Lincoln

We know, Southern men declare that their slaves are better off than hired laborers amongst us. How little they know, whereof they…

— Abraham Lincoln

I think that one of the causes of these repeated failures is that our best and greatest men have greatly underestimated the…

— Abraham Lincoln

I do not wish to be misunderstood upon this subject of slavery in this country. I suppose it may long exist, and…

— Abraham Lincoln

In the way our Fathers originally left the slavery question, the institution was in the course of ultimate extinction, and the public…

— Abraham Lincoln

My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If…

— Abraham Lincoln

“The will of God prevails. In great contests each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both *may*…

— Abraham Lincoln

Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.

— Abraham Lincoln

One section of our country believes slavery is right, and ought to be extended, while the other believes it is wrong, and…

— Abraham Lincoln

If any should be slaves, it should be first those who desire it for themselves, and secondly, those who desire it for…

— Abraham Lincoln

I wish all men to be free. I wish the material prosperity of the already free which I feel sure the extinction…

— Abraham Lincoln

I never knew a man who wished to be himself a slave. Consider if you know any good thing, that no man…

— Abraham Lincoln

When the hour comes for dealing with slavery, I trust I will be willing to do my duty though it cost my…

— Abraham Lincoln

And then, the negro being doomed, and damned, and forgotten, to everlasting bondage, is the white man quite certain that the tyrant…

— Abraham Lincoln