"I think I have no prejudice against the Southern people. They are just what we would be in their situation. If slavery did not now exist amongst them, they would not introduce it. If it did now exist amongst us, we should not instantly give it up. This I believe of the masses north and south. Doubtless there are individuals, on both sides, who would not hold slaves under any circumstances; and others who would gladly introduce slavery anew, if it were out of existence. We know that some southern men do free their slaves, go north, and become tip-top abolitionists; while some northern ones go south, and become most cruel slave-masters."
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Original Language: English
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Abraham Lincoln, Speech at Peoria, Illinois, Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Volume 2. (16 October, 1854) p. 256.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Slavery
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Slavery
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