The Lincoln quote you didn't hear

Senator Barack Obama introduced his running mate, Senator Joe Biden, at an event in Springfield, Illinois, today. Senator Biden quoted Abraham Lincoln, who said "put your feet in the right place and stand firm."

Here's something else Lincoln said, in 1859:

I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and the black races...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 the black races, which, I believe, will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality. And inasmuch as they cannot so live, while they do remain together there must be the position of superior and inferior, and I, as much as any other man, am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race.

Just a reminder that politicians will say anything to get elected.



Source note: Abraham Lincoln, Speech at Columbus, Ohio, September 16, 1859. The text of the speech may be found in Complete Works of Abraham Lincoln, John G. Nicolay and John Hay, editors. (New York: Francis D. Tandy Company, 1894) 5:143-144. Lincoln's papers can be found online at Northern Illinois University's site, http://lincoln.lib.niu.edu, and the Columbus speech can be found here.

Editor's note: For more of America's untold history, read "How the First Amendment Came to Protect Topless Dancing," the appendix to the novel The 37th Amendment, online at www.The37thAmendment.com.

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