If I could save the union without freeing any slaves I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that.” The full sentence in the letter makes it clear that not freeing slaves is just one policy option Lincoln is presenting in the letter alongside the idea of freeing all slaves: “My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. Lynn Distinguished Chair in Lincoln Studies at University of Illinois Springfield ( here), told Reuters via email.
However, the isolated quote circulating online is “very misleading out of context,” Michael Burlingame, holder of the Chancellor Naomi B. 22, 1862, as seen on the Library of Congress website ( here) and transcribed here (see middle of paragraph three). Lincoln did write the words in the social media posts in a letter to American journalist and former New York Tribune editor, Horace Greeley, on Aug. Lincoln was the President of the Union made up of northern states, which ultimately won the war ( here, here ). In the American Civil War (1861-65), eleven southern states seceded from the United States to form the Confederate States of America where slavery was protected. The posts ( here, here ) attribute to Lincoln the words: “If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it” and to Lee the quote: “There is a terrible war coming and these young men who have never seen war cannot wait for it to happen, but I can tell you, I wish that I owned every slave in the south, for I would free them all to avoid this war.” They are accompanied by the caption, “Two quotes you won’t see in school.” Lee, which has been disputed in the past though several experts told Reuters it is similar to remarks Lee did supposedly make. It is accompanied by another quote attributed to the Confederate general Robert E. A quote by the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, has been cropped of its wider context and is being misleadingly circulated online.
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