Lincoln-Douglas Debates Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Lincoln-Douglas Debates - Essay Example He also insisted that he would be happy to abolish slave trade and slavery â€Å"I should be exceedingly glad to see slavery abolished in the District of Columbia.† His lack of support for the slavery was however not that passionate and he would not put in personal effort to see it end unless Congress as a whole made that decision based on the power the constitution had accorded them. He made this position very clear in his speech when he said â€Å"†¦I should not with my present views be in favor of endeavoring to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia†¦ (Henretta and Kevin 333)† His position on slavery was legal as he based everything on the constitution. This is evident for example when he said that he would abolish slavery because he was a member of the Congress and the Congress had the constitutional power to abolish it through changing or amending the slavery laws that were currently present. He also gave a number of legal conditions in which he would abolish slavery including if the majority of the voters in the District of Columbia voted for it to be abolished and also if the owners of those slaves were to be compensated for having to part with their slaves who were their laborers. An individual watching this speech would expect that once Lincoln becomes the president, he would honor his words by using his constitutional power to abolish slavery or influence the Congress to amend the constitution and especially the clauses that allow slavery as a way to abolish slavery. These expectations are based on the fact that Lincoln was a man who knew law very well and followed it to the letter and he was also a man of actions and especially when it is something he desired. If his desires were therefore on abolishing slavery, he would have made that happen as soon as he became president. His desires to abolish slavery