The statement shows Lincoln's attitude towards the rebel Southern states. Unlike some of the other people in the government, Lincoln did not want to punish the South but rather to get them back in the Union as painlessly as possible.
Abraham Lincoln.
"With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's...
After the Civil War, some victorious Northerners pushed for retributive policies against the South. Lincoln's template of healing the national rift ("Reconstruction") emphasized not punishing...