use divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave, half free" (Basler 2:461-2). Lincoln criticized the 1857 Supreme Court Dred Scott decision which held that slaves were mere chattel and had no rights under the Constitution and came out in favor of amending the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.
Lincoln said during the Lincoln-Douglas debates that he believed that the founding fathers had intended to include black men within the meaning of the 'all men are created equal' proviso of the Declaration of Independence. At Ottawa, Illinois on August 21, 1858, he said: "there is no reason in the world why the negro is not entitled to all the natural rights enumerated in the Declaration of Independence, the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" which Lincoln defined to include "the right to eat the bread, without leave of anybody else, which his own hands earns" (Basler 3:16). The achievement of such equality was, however, a goal which must be achieved gradually and through constitutional means. Pa
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