Lincoln, Conservatism, and Liberalism

[Redalgo]

Well, from what I could gather...

For awhile Lincoln was part of the Illinois delegation to Congress. He opposed Polk and the war with Mexico, and the latter cost him his support for renomination by the Whigs. The Whigs were in decline at the time that favored modernity, tariffs, and national integration - whereas the Democrats favored laissez-faire economics, free trade, small government, and states' rights. Lincoln left politics for awhile and as a lawyer developed a deep-seated loathing of injustices and oppression. It is also noteworthy that he refused to demand more pay from his clients than he felt his services were worth or they could reasonably afford. At the time Lincoln felt slavery should be left to the individual states and that abolitionists were doing more harm than good, but with time a fellow by the name of William H. Herdon talked him into a more rigorous position on the matter.

When the Republican Party formed Lincoln liked its abolitionist-friendly platform, helped organize it in Illinois, and despite his relative obscurity got floated as a possible pick for VP by the party's first national convention. Debates in Illinois between Lincoln and Douglas about the slavery issue during a race for the U.S. Senate got a lot of attention; others running for office used their support of one man or the other as a campaign pitch. Later, on his way to Washington after winning the Presidency, he assured people that war was unnecessary and that the North-South crisis was mostly an artificial one. Given the constituencies parties had back then it was not always obvious who was "liberal" or "conservative" all-around but it seems the GOP was progressive in that era.

The Lincoln administration offered federal land-grants to colleges and land to homesteaders. It established a national banking system, paper currency, National Academy of Sciences, excise taxes, income taxes, and a Freedmen's Bureau to provide freed Southern slaves with food, clothing, land, and health care. A Constitutional amendment was passed to abolish slavery, Lincoln declared amnesty for most rebels willing to take an oath of loyalty to the Union, and leaned toward reconciliation in his plan for Reconstruction but never lived to see through its implementation.

[Redalgo]

I do beleive its Herndon not Herdon.

Yes, I think you are right.