Abraham Lincoln's Cincinnati Speech Endorsed Immigration

Abraham Lincoln

On February 12, 1861, Abraham Lincoln told a group of German immigrants in Cincinnati that:

“While man [sic] exists, it is his duty to improve not only his own condition, but to assist in ameliorating mankind.”

My simple thesis today is that Lincoln, the Republican Party’s first president, not only supported immigration, but regarded immigrants with goodwill, equality, and compassion.

Lincoln supported immigration in this brief speech in Cincinnati, Ohio. He stated that immigrants equaled everyone else in merit. That Lincoln’s welcoming position aroused controversy in 1861, just as it does today, should surprise no one. In the wry, chatty style at which he excelled, Lincoln assured the crowd that they, as immigrants, equaled everyone else:

“In regard to Germans and foreigners, I esteem foreigners no better than other people, nor any worse. [Laughter and cheers.] They are all of the great family of men, and if there is one shackle upon any of them, it would be far better to lift the load from them than to pile additional loads upon them. [Cheers.]” 

Lincoln continued that the United States had plenty of room to accommodate immigrants:

“And inasmuch as the continent of America is comparatively a new country, and the other countries of the world are old countries, there is more room here, comparatively speaking, than there is there; and if they can better their condition by leaving their old homes, there is nothing in my heart to forbid them coming; and I bid them all God speed. [Cheers.]”

Lincoln’s simple compassion, welcoming the immigrants to “better their condition by leaving their old homes,” represented the Republican Party’s sympathetic attitude.

We must clearly recall that immigrants in 1861 faced discrimination and prejudice just as they do today. As historian Laura Leddy Turner notes, “The German, Irish and Italian immigrants who arrived in America during the 1800s often faced prejudice and mistrust.” The same was true two generations later, when my Ukrainian grandparents and their offspring, including my mother, overcame discrimination in western Pennsylvania. Sadly, the same obstacles afflict Latina/Latino and Haitian immigrants today. Lincoln’s statement of equality did not merely represent political or economic wisdom; it demonstrated the compassion for which he and his political movement were becoming famous.

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Yes, times have changed, but why should our values change? Lincoln had begun his speech, not with policy, but by stating a value: that we all share a duty to “assist in ameliorating” the suffering of others. Can today’s Republican Party emulate the wise attitudes and policies that its first great champion conveyed? As the Hebrew Scriptures assure us, there is nothing new under the sun, and prudent men and women can always learn from the past. When honorable people speak, judicious people listen!

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I do hope that all my fellow Americans celebrated a wonderful Independence Day yesterday. God bless the United States of America. May we always be free, and may our freedom always be tempered by justice.

by William D. Harpine

Copyright ©2026 by William D. Harpine

Image of Abraham Lincoln, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons