I recently saw an article about how Abraham Lincoln was "not actually opposed to slavery" . I spent a few hours searching online to gain clarity and I'm finding some conflicting answers. Was hoping someone with knowledge could help me to clarify and better understand. Thank you in advance!
I found these answers to be really helpful:https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/6unxtw/lincoln/?utm_source=amp&utm_medium=&utm_content=post_title
TL/DR- Lincoln was opposed to slavery from the very beginning but ,initially, he didn't advocate for immediate, total emancipation. He instead wanted to prevent its expansion into the territories believing that this would have led to gradual emancipation. However,his views changed over time as the war waged on culminating with the passage of the 13th amendment.(passing this amendment was actually part of the Platform of Republican Party for the 1864 elections, https://web.archive.org/web/20130329015755/http://www.sewanee.edu/faculty/Willis/Civil_War/documents/republican.html, and later Lincoln actively pushed various congressmen to vote for it)