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T. Hoskisson
Where is the line drawn? How thin does it become before someone takes notice
enough to put an end to it? I am talking about the line of slavery and the two opposing
sides that took up their cause in the 1900th century. I am talking about the Confederate
and the Union and two men who became outspoken for where they believed the line
was drawn. I simply claim that Alexander H. Stephens and Abraham Lincoln were
arguing the same topic, but on two different sides that were based on what they
believed. We have Stephens, who argued for slavery (that is, he argued that slavery
was a good thing), and Lincoln, who argued that slavery was bad and needed to be
ended. They each believed that what they were arguing was right and moral and that
the country seriously needed to hear what they had to say about African-Americans
stay in tact for as long as it possibly could because they believed that it was the right
thing. Giving African-Americans certain liberties would be like they were infringing in on
their liberties. This was something that just wouldnt fly with the Confederates. Stephens
specifically says, ...the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery, subordination
to the superior race, is his natural and moral condition. (Pg. 418 middle of 2nd
Lincoln, on the other hand, has a completely different view on the situation. He
(being part of the Union) was against slavery because it took away freedom from any
human that was of a different race. Lincoln believed that all men should have the
liberties that are available to other men and not having it based on race. In his speech,
he states that people use words in different ways depending on how they want the
outcome. So, one person could have a clear definition for the word liberty while
someone else can also argue a clear definition of the same word. It is based on the way
you perceive things. Lincoln states, Hence we behold the process by which thousands
are daily passing from under the yoke of bondage, hailed by some as the advance of
liberty, and bewailed by others as the destructions of all liberty. One views this liberty
as good while others view this liberty as destruction against the very society that they
built.
If Stephens had his way, the country would remain giving only liberty to whites
and keeping it as far away from African-Americans as possible. If Lincoln had his way,
liberty would be offered to all men because all me are created equal. We know who
ends up winning this fight overall because we have the opportunity to be part of a
generation that is living proof that all men are created equal. Stephens would probably
The line of liberty was vague and once people started speaking up for it is when
the line was fully brought into the light. If it werent for people like Lincoln and even
people like Stephens then an argument would never have come and the liberties
wouldnt be brought up on such a global level. These are the men that gave the liberty
to men because they are the men that spoke up either for them, or gave a good