> Speech, July 6, 1852, Springfield, Illinois:
>
> *"My first impulse would be to free all the slaves and send them to Liberia, to their own native land. But the slaves are here, and they would have to be freed and organized into society. But I am afraid that the negro cannot be incorporated into the society of the whites as an equal. I believe that the negro is inferior to the white man."* — Abraham Lincoln
> Fourth Lincoln-Douglas Debate, September 18, 1858, Charleston, Illinois:
>
> *"I will say then that I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of the social and political equality of the white and black races, that I am not nor ever have been in favor of making voters or jurors of negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people; and I will say in addition to this that there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality."* — Abraham Lincoln
> Speech to Negroes, August 14, 1862, Washington, D.C.:
>
> *"You and we are different races. We have between us a broader difference than exists between almost any other two races. Whether it is right or wrong I need not discuss, but this physical difference is a great disadvantage to us both, as I think your race suffer very greatly, many of them by living among us, while ours suffer from your presence. In a word, I want the best possible to be done for both races."* — Abraham Lincoln
> Annual Message to Congress, December 1, 1862, Washington, D.C.:
>
> *"The colored race is the only one which, as a whole, has ever occupied the position of a servile class in the United States. And it is the only one which, as a whole, is ever likely to occupy that position again. I say this to show that the difficulty is very great, and that the greater the difficulty, the greater is the necessity of thinking and acting with prudence and caution."* — Abraham Lincoln
