The audiobook started by revealing Lincoln's stance over extending slavery (not just keeping) and abolition. It's a great shock to me that he didn't support abolition at all throughout the majority of his career.
He first created a middle ground between the two extremes (extension and abolition) and dwelled there for years. He claimed that whites and blacks aren't equal and hoped that slavery would just die out eventually. If they were to be emancipated, the best thing to do is bring them back to Africa and colonize the country. Later in his career, he suggested bringing them to South America instead, which is still controversial.
Something noteworthy is that Lincoln used a speech technique in his Lyceum Address. To convince and unite his audience regarding lawlessness, he used examples from places farther away rather than a local murder. Why? Because the drive of speech is about condemning lawlessness and what we should do to prevent it, pointing fingers at somewhere else is much more effective at delivering his message than pointing at his audience.
Later, as we all know, Lincoln started his political career. He was re-elected as the President of the United States years later.
That was about the moment we welcomed a dramatic turn during Lincoln's last couple of months. He changed his mind and stated that he would prefer to confer the voting right to the very intelligent and those who served our cause as soldiers (i.e. Civil War veterans).
Does that give you a shock as well?
If we consider the time and space Lincoln was living in, it may be understandable why he took a gradual stance change over the years. If he had started with a stance rooting for abolition, he might not have reached the influence he had.
Put time and space into consideration when you review someone's speech. That's the greatest lesson I learned from this audiobook.
More about this audiobook: Abraham Lincoln: In His Own Words | The Great Courses
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