The anti-slavery critics of the President insisted that in thus dealing with slavery as a matter of total indifference he likened himself to Douglas, who had declared that he didn't care whether slavery was voted up or voted down in the Territories.
Julian argues that President Lincoln's indifference to slavery parallels Stephen Douglas's stance, raising concerns about moral leadership during the Civil War.
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Come ye who, whatever betide her, To Freedom have sworn to be true, Prime up with a cup of hard cider, And drink to old Tippecanoe.
No sophistry could disguise this fact, nor could its significance be overstated.
The feeling against him became perfectly relentless, as I distinctly remember it, and shared in it myself; but on referring to the message now, I am astonished at the comparative moderation of its tone, and the strength of its positions.
It was a confession of Congressional incompetence to deal with a problem which Congress alone had the right to solve.
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