He believed and contended that slave owners should be compensated for their losses when slavery was abolished. Lincoln and his colleagues believed that the US Constitution prohibited the federal government from ending slavery in the states that already had it, but the Constitution allowed the federal government to bar slavery in the territories and condition future admissions as states to the abolition of slavery in the state. He had opposed the Mexican War and the spread of slavery into any of the new territories acquired by the US from Mexico and France. Lincoln, running as a Senatorial candidate for the brand-new Republican Party, rose to national prominence from his great debates with Steven Douglas over slavery. The Know Nothings (American Party) from this era were a nativist party opposed to Catholics and immigrants. Democrats, led by Southern Democrats but many northern Democrats as well, became the party supporting slavery. Lincoln and many northern Whigs joined the new Republican Party during the 1850s, which was the first national party that took a strong stand against slavery. The Whig party broke apart soon after his Congressional term over the issues of slavery, its abolition, and the emancipation of the enslaved. Lincoln was a one term Congressman as a Whig. Clay, a slave owner himself, was the Great Compromiser who cobbled together the Missouri Compromise of 1820 admitting Missouri and Maine and prohibiting the growth of slavery in states and territories above the 36 degrees, 30 minutes parallel, and the Compromise of 1850 which admitted California as a state. The Whig platform was gradual emancipation of slaves, internal improvements (i.e., canals, roads and other infrastructure to promote the nation’s economic development), high tariffs (to protect the development of the nation’s manufacturers), a strong federal government, strong and universal public education, and a national bank to stabilize the nation’s financial systems. He was initially attracted to politics as a Whig supporter of Henry Clay and the policies of the “American System”. He became a prominent local lawyer and then state legislator, eventually president, dedicated to the use of politics for the betterment of the nation. His mom died when he was quite young, and he was encouraged to read and learn by his stepmom. He was self-taught using the Bible and the traditional reading books of his day.
He was exposed to and repulsed by slavery early on in Kentucky, working on boats along the Ohio River that separated free and slave states and working on boats all the way down to the great slave market in New Orleans. He grew up in an anti-slavery family and attended an anti-slavery church. Lincoln grew up poor and mostly self-taught in Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois. And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and The American Struggle
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