Was Abraham Lincoln a Radical or a Conservative?

October 22, 2008

Was Abraham Lincoln a radical who sought to transform America by freeing four million slaves or a conservative dedicated to upholding the Constitution and preserving the union?

In truth, he was both, according to James Oakes, professor of history at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York and the featured speaker in this year's Lawrence and Theresa Salameno Lecture Series.

The series is commemorating the 200th anniversary of Lincoln's birth next year with lectures, conferences and symposia over the next 18 months, said John Rodrigue, Salameno professor of history at Stonehill. The series will be both a celebration and a critical assessment of Lincoln's impact on history, Rodrigue promised.

Oakes spoke before students and faculty at the Martin Institute on Oct. 21. His most recent book, The Radical and the Republican, about Lincoln and abolitionist Frederick Douglass, was awarded the Lincoln Prize from the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History in New York.

Oakes said that for most of his life, Lincoln was a conservative and a proud member of the Whig Party, a defender of banks and railroads who revered the law and feared anarchy and mob rule.

But when the Whigs split over the issue of slavery, Lincoln joined the Republicans. Suddenly, being conservative meant being pro-slavery, being neutral meant seeking a consensus, and being anti-slavery brought one "close to the radical end of the spectrum," Oakes said.

During the 1850s, Lincoln grew steadily more radical, Oakes said, opposing the Dred Scott decision that said the Constitution guaranteed the right to property in slaves and that freed blacks could never be citizens.

Lincoln said the Supreme Court's decision could be changed by "the people through their elected representatives" in Congress, a radical view, Oakes said.

When Lincoln gave his famous "house divided" speech in 1858, it dismayed his friends and shocked his opponents because it spoke of an "irreconcilable conflict" and said a "nation cannot sustain itself half-slave and half-free."

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