“I have never said anything to the contrary, but I hold that notwithstanding all this, there is no reason in the world why the negro is not entitled to all the natural rights enumerated in the Declaration of Independence, the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I hold that he is as much entitled to these as the white man. I agree with Judge Douglas he is not my equal in many respects—certainly not in color, perhaps not in moral or intellectual endowment. But in the right to eat the bread, without leave of anybody else, which his own hand earns, he is my equal and the equal of Judge Douglas, and the equal of every living man.”
About This Quote
The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume III, First Debate with Stephen A. Douglas at Ottawa, Illinois (August 21, 1858), p. 16.
More from Abraham Lincoln
“Don't kneel to me, that is not right. You must kneel to God only, and thank him for the…”
“It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from…”
“In reference to you, colored people, let me say God has made you free. Although you have…”
“My poor friends, you are free, free as air. You can cast off the name of slave and trample…”