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About this quote

What does it mean?
Free labor offers hope unlike slavery, debunking claims that slaves are better off.
In plain terms
Free labor has hope; slavery does not.
What can you take from it?
Hope is a key difference between free labor and slavery.

Where it applies

  • economic debates
  • abolitionist speeches
  • comparisons

Putting it to work

  • study labor systems
  • promote freedom
  • recognize hope

Questions to consider

  • What gives workers hope?
  • How does freedom affect dignity?

Another view

It glosses over the hardships faced by hired laborers.

More from Abraham Lincoln

  1. Negro equality! Fudge!! How long, in the government of a God, great enough to make and maintain this Universe, shall there continue to be knaves to vend, and f…

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  2. An inspection of the Constitution will show that the right of property in a slave is not 'distinctly and expressly affirmed' in it.

    Permalink to quote #26
  3. Understanding the spirit of our institutions to aim at the elevation of men, I am opposed to whatever tends to degrade them.

    Permalink to quote #23

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