Slavery: what history's greatest minds said

Lincoln publicly advocated for colonizing freed slaves, believing racial separation would reduce suffering for both Black and white Americans. He promoted Central American colonies but acknowledged shifting views as wartime progressed.

Lincoln's "house divided" metaphor meant the nation could not endure permanently half slave and half free. He predicted the slavery question would eventually be settled one way or another, not that he sought to force uniformity.

Lincoln viewed the Emancipation Proclamation as a military necessity born from desperation, though he personally believed slavery was fundamentally wrong and remained constrained by his constitutional oath.

Lincoln held slavery morally wrong throughout his life, but believed the Constitution restricted his power to abolish it immediately. He advocated containing slavery's spread to ensure its eventual extinction.

Lincoln prioritized preserving the Union as his official duty, though he personally opposed slavery. He ultimately concluded that saving the nation required destroying slavery.

George Washington's views on slavery evolved during his lifetime. Though he wrestled with the contradiction between Revolutionary ideals and slaveholding, he ultimately freed his enslaved people in his will.