Cite?
I think it’s more accurate to say that he was personally opposed to slavery but, for much of his life, didn’t believe the government had any right to interfere with slavery where it already existed.
This site gives Lincoln’s words concerning slavery. I’ve included one quote below as an example.
Interesting. But how do you reconcile that with the speech Revtim quoted, which was given only a couple of months later?
Frankly, it sounds to me like he was just being a typical politician, taking whatever position he thought would play better with the crowd.
He says “blacks aren’t equal to whites” in one and “slavery is bad” in the other. I agree that he picked his wording to suit the audience, but the statements don’t contradict each other.
Well, to be fair, they did fire first.