Although I've always known that Lincoln freed the slaves, I didn't realize how hard he worked to get it done nor how important it was to him. Lincoln was a Republican. Those that were vehemently opposed to freeing the slaves were Democrats, and I left the movie very confused. Most Democrats during that time were white supremacists. In fact, on October 13, 1858, during Lincoln-Douglas debates, U.S. Senator Stephen Douglas (D-IL) stated: “I do not regard the Negro as my equal, and positively deny that he is my brother, or any kin to me whatever”; Douglas became the Democratic Party’s 1860 Presidential nominee (http://www.black-and-right.com/the-democrat-race-lie/ ).
Democrats throughout history were consistently opposed to granting equal rights to Black Americans, women, and Native Americans. Here are a few examples focusing only on Black Americans. If you want to know more of these, they can be found at http://www.black-and-right.com/the-democrat-race-lie/ and are arranged in a timeline from 1856 to 1996.
- Democrats were vehemently opposed to freeing the slaves. The 13th Amendment banning slavery was passed with 100% of Republicans and opposed by 63% of Democrats.
- The Civil Rights Act of 1866, which gave Black Americans citizenship status, was vetoed by Democrat President Andrew Johnson, but the Republican Congress overrode his veto.
- In 1866 the U.S. Senate passed the 14th Amendment. 94% of Republicans voted yes; Democrats unanimously opposed it.
- In 1868 the Democratic Party's National Campaign theme was, "This is a white man's country. Let white men rule."
- Democratic terrorists organized as KKK assassinated U.S. Rep. James Hines (R-AR) who was campaigning for re-election.
- Civil Rights leaders, Martin Luther King Jr. and Ralph Abernathy voted for Republican Dwight Eisenhower for President.
- Republican President Dwight Eisenhower deployed the 82nd Airborne Division to Little Rock, AR to force Democratic Governor, Orval Faubus, to integrate public schools.
- Margaret Sanger (a Democrat and founder of Planned Parenthood) said, "We should hire three or four colored ministers, preferably with social-service backgrounds, and with engaging personalities. The most successful educational approach to the Negro is through a religious appeal. We don’t want the word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population…."