A Fragment on Slavery, July 1859

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“A Fragment on Slavery. July 1854” from Speeches & Letters of Abraham Lincoln, 1832-1865, by Abraham Lincoln, edited by James Bryce and John Nicolay, 1907.

If A can prove, however conclusively, that he may of right enslave B, why may not B snatch the same argument and prove equally that he may enslave A?

You say A is white and B is black. It is colour, then; the lighter having the right to enslave the darker? Take care. By this rule you are to be slave to the first man you meet with a fairer skin than your own.

You do not mean colour exactly? You mean the whites are intellectually the superiors of the blacks, and therefore have the right to enslave them? Take care again. By this rule you are to be slave to the first man you meet with an intellect superior to your own.

But, say you, it is a question of interest, and if you make it your interest you have the right to enslave another. Very well. And if he can make it his interest he has the right to enslave you.

Lincoln, Abraham. Speeches & letters of Abraham Lincoln, 1832-1865. James Bryce and John Nicolay, editors. J. M. Dent & Co., 1907

Abraham Lincoln

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