Quote by Abraham Lincoln
Those arguments that are made, that the inferior race are to be treated with as much allowance as they are capable of enjoying; that as much is to be done for them as their condition will allow. What are these arguments? They are the arguments that kings have made for enslaving the people in all ages of the world. You will find that all the arguments in favor of kingcraft were of this class; they always bestrode the necks of the people, not that they wanted to do it, but because the people were better off for being ridden. That is their argument, and this argument of the Judge is the same old serpent that says you work and I eat, you toil and I will enjoy the fruits of it. Turn in whatever way you willwhether it comes from the mouth of a King, an excuse for enslaving the people of his country, or from the mouth of men of one race as a reason for enslaving the men of another race, it is all the same old serpent, and I hold if that course of argumentation that is made for the purpose of convincing the public mind that we should not care about this, should be granted, it does not stop with the negro.
Summary
This quote by Abraham Lincoln is a critique of the arguments used to justify the enslavement of races deemed inferior. Lincoln argues that these arguments are not only used by kings to assert control over their subjects but also by individuals of one race to subjugate another. He denounces the notion that one group benefits from the labor of another, asserting that if these arguments are accepted, they do not stop with the oppression of African Americans but can be applied to any marginalized group. Through this quote, Lincoln asserts the universality and danger of such justifications for oppression.
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