... During his challenging series of debates with Douglas, Douglas often tried to make Lincoln seem like an abolitionist, while Lincoln tried to force Douglas to make proslavery statements. These two great speakers, using their amazing oratory skills, managed to confuse many Americans enough to never decide which side to be on, all while giving them concrete facts about the pros and cons of slavery. Lincoln's contradictory statements include saying that slavery was a "moral, social, and political wrong." But he also said that he had no wish "to interfere with the institution of slavery in the states where it already exists." The famous William Lloyd Garrison, one of Lincoln's biggest critics, said "there is not a drop of anti-slavery blood in his veins." This shows Lincoln's way of navigating through his public's opinions so that some people always agree with him while the others cannot blatantly call him wrong. Lincoln's complex character is showed most clearly through his contradicting and hypocritical statements and actions about slavery. Why was it that after the war started a person who returned a slave back into slavery received ten dollars and a person who found a slave but granted their freedom received only five dollars? These actions clearly show Lincoln wanted the African American slave race to remain enslaved. One of Lincoln's hugest plans during his presidency that most people don't know about is his ideas about colonization for blacks outside of America. He planned to ship off free slaves to Liberia, South America, and Africa to start their own colonies and combine their cultures and races. "They could be induced by a proclamation of freedom from me to throw themselves upon us, what should we do with them then"" This showed that even if Lincoln wanted slaves to be free, he did not believe in their constitutional right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. He did not believe that all men were created equal because he would rather have these African slaves shipped anywhere out of the United States than to be freed and become equals with his white people. I think Lincoln is held in such high regard in America because he is seen as an icon, but if you look into the history of the details of Lincoln's presidential career and his career as a lawyer, one would find that Lincoln holds some completely different opinions than what typical Americans would think. ...
