Abraham Lincoln, White Supremacist: The First Lincoln-Douglas Debate

Lincoln Memorial, NPS

In the first of his famous debates with Stephen Douglas in the 1858 election to choose the next senator from Illinois, future President Abraham Lincoln said: “I, as well as Judge Douglas, am in favor of the race to which I belong having the superior position.” That sounds like white supremacy to me. Yes, several years later, President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. Indeed, he was the president who talked about “government of the people, by people, for the people.” He was the president who said, “with malice toward none, with charity to all.” That does not change the fact that he spoke as a white supremacist. Before I go into more detail about this debate, however, let's look at context:

First, in 1858, people who wanted to abolish slavery, much less who favored racial equality, were considered dangerous radicals by the (almost entirely white) electorate. Nor during these debates, did Lincoln oppose slavery. His political position was to prevent slavery from spreading as new states joined the union. That, in 1858, was considered (by most white people) to be quite a liberal position.

Second, “white supremacy” can mean two different things. It can mean, in the opinion of a white supremacist, that white people are inherently better than other people. It can also mean, in the opinion of a white supremacist, that white people should be in charge. The view that white people are better is pure racism. The idea that white people should run things is pure politics. As we will see, Lincoln said both. A C-SPAN poll of historians found Lincoln to be our greatest president. For what it’s worth, I agree. Yet, he openly advocated racism and white supremacy.

Third, people too often talk about white supremacy as if it were a new thing that President Donald Trump activated while he was in office. The foul doctrine of white supremacy, however, has a long, dark history in American political speech, and this post is one of several that will prove it.

So, let’s take off the rose-colored glasses and look at Lincoln’s debate speech in more detail. What political policy did Lincoln speak about?

James Baldwin's 1963 Speech Ripped Away Two American Myths

Lincoln Opposed Racial Equality

In 1858, Lincoln, who would later be called the Great Emancipator, opposed the expansion of slavery. He also opposed equality of opportunity and of accomplishment. Period. Here is more of what he said in that first debate:

“I have no purpose to introduce political and social equality between the white and the black races. There is a physical difference between the two, which, in my judgment, will probably forever forbid their living together upon the footing of perfect equality, and inasmuch as it becomes a necessity that there must be a difference, I, as well as Judge Douglas, am in favor of the race to which I belong having the superior position.”

Note that he specially denied that he wanted “to introduce political and social equality between the white and the black races.” That is, Lincoln did not seek to make the races equal—either in politics or social standing. Furthermore, he opposed equality for strictly bigoted reasons: “There is a physical difference between the two.”

With twisted but seemingly impeccable logic, Lincoln concluded that, since the races could not be equal, the white race should hold the “superior position.” His point was to have white people run the country. That is absolute white supremacy.


Lincoln's Logic Arose from Racial Prejudice

Why did Lincoln say that white people should be in charge? In this debate, Lincoln explained that quite precisely. He specifically opposed racial equality—and supported the doctrine of white supremacy--because of his belief that African Americans were inherently less than white people. He did say that African Americans should enjoy certain vague, basic natural rights, but this did not imply that African Americans were, in Lincoln’s view, as good as white people:

“I hold that he is as much entitled to these [rights] as the white man. I agree with Judge Douglas he is not my equal in many respects—certainly not in color, perhaps not in moral or intellectual endowment.”

“Not my equal,” Lincoln said. Furthermore, Lincoln literally said that African Americans were not equal “in color.” That, by any standard, is bald racism.


Did Lincoln Offer a Solution?

No, in this debate, Lincoln did not offer a solution to the problem of slavery. In fact, he said: 

“If all earthly power were given me, I should not know what to do, as to the existing institution” [slavery].

He admitted that it was impractical to send every African American back to Africa. He refused to admit African Americans as equals. This led him to utter the following startling, politically cynical, horribly racist passage:

“What then? Free them all, and keep them among us as underlings? Is it quite certain that this betters their condition? I think I would not hold one in slavery at any rate; yet the point is not clear enough to me to denounce people upon. What next? Free them, and make them politically and socially our equals? My own feelings will not admit of this; and if mine would, we well know that those of the great mass of white people will not. Whether this feeling accords with justice and sound judgment, is not the sole question, if, indeed, it is any part of it. A universal feeling, whether well or ill-founded, cannot be safely disregarded. We cannot, then, make them equals. It does seem to me that systems of gradual emancipation might be adopted; but for their tardiness in this, I will not undertake to judge our brethren of the South.”

This paragraph, again, gives us much to unpack. Lincoln's “own feelings” would not let him make African Americans into his equals. He also admitted that “the great mass of white people” would not tolerate racial equality. He recognized that African Americans could never be equal because white people would not allow it. He specifically declined to pass judgment on southern slave owners.

Yet, as we all learned in school, even Lincoln's seemingly moderate view was enough to terrify slaveholding interests. For further insight, think about the American Civil War.


And What Happened?

Douglas won the election rather easily. At the same time, however, these well-publicized debates helped Lincoln gain the presidency two years later. Douglas, as we shall see in future posts, ran for Senator on a race-baiting platform whose purpose was to terrify white people into opposing Lincoln. That, in 1858, was the winning strategy in the free state of Illinois.

In contrast, Lincoln’s position offered African Americans a few basic rights. He did not call for abolition, but only to prevent slavery from spreading further than it already had. Why? Lincoln was, first and foremost, a politician. He surely knew that he could not win national office as an abolitionist. Let us not pretend, however, that he spoke as anything other than a white supremacist. And do you wonder why some people even today don't trust white liberals?

In Buffalo, Joe Biden Challenged an Idea: The Idea of White Supremacy

How much has changed? How much has not changed? Lincoln's first debate against Douglas showed the nation that it faced a political need to compromise with white supremacists, even as it faced a moral imperative to oppose their wicked philosophy. I wrote a few days ago about Biden's recent speech in Buffalo, New York opposing white supremacy. The press didn't pay much attention, did they? Are things better today than in 1858? Of course. Yes, slavery is now illegal, and African Americans are now supposedly guaranteed equal rights under the law. Still, have we come far enough? Or does Lincoln’s “moderate” view still rule our nation’s political and moral life?