Lifelong What?

 

Lifelong What?

 

Every day on the news, some politician, pundit, or pastor, underscores a position or opinion by stating that, “I am a life-long (fill in the blank). This assertion, given as a shorthand cue to listeners, ascribes virtues, values, or traditional stances to the speaker. Life-long conservative, life-long liberal, life-long party member, life-long proponent, life-long opponent, life-long supporter, life-long protestor — every identifier rings bells for those who agree or disagree. 

Abraham Lincoln might have described himself as a life-long opponent to slavery. In his book, The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery, historian Eric Froner traces Lincoln’s evolution of thought about slavery. Raised by parents who disliked slavery, Lincoln’s anti-slavery sentiments formed early. 

As a young man working on river barges, Lincoln was sickened by the sight of human beings being bought and sold in the market like animals. As a nascent politician, Lincoln spoke out against the extension of slavery into new American territories. In a letter to a colleague, he wrote, "I am naturally anti-slavery. If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong. I cannot remember when I did not so think, and feel.”

Living in a nation split on the issue of slavery, Lincoln at first advocated for its gradual abolition. At one time, he supported reparations to slave owners who freed their slaves. When running for President, he accepted the fact that the southern states would remain in the Union while continuing the “peculiar institution” that maintained their economy. 

When the nation descended into civil war, Lincoln’s main concern was for the preservation of the Union. In an 1862 newspaper article, he wrote: "If I could save the union without freeing any slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that." It wasn’t until 1863 in the Emancipation Proclamation that Lincoln declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free.” Even then, he was unsure that freed slaves could be included in American society and considered returning them to Africa.

Lincoln might have identified as a life-long abolitionist, but his thinking about slaves and slavery evolved. Eric Froner writes that Lincoln’s evolution echoed that of the nation’s — from allowance to restriction to gradual emancipation to immediate freedom to segregation to integration. 

Thinking people and nations evolve in practices and ideals. Life-long should not describe a stagnant position or opinion. Life-long as a qualifier should only be attached to learner. To grow and thrive, nations and people must assess old ideas and positions, adapt to changing times, and adjust to meet the needs and challenges ahead. Life is long. Like Lincoln, use yours to make the world a better place.