- During Lincoln’s life time, there were two groups of people who were treated unfairly.  These two groups were the Native Americans and the slaves.

- Slaves were people of African descent who were brought over to the United States to be sold, bought, and owned by others, mainly white settlers.

- Slaves were used as laborers forced to work for the white settlers doing any jobs they were commanded to do.

- Slaves were not free like the white settlers.  They also had no rights like the white settlers.

-  Slavery began in the 1620’s and lasted over 200 years.

- The first slaves were brought to the United States and sold in Jamestown (an English Colony at the time) as indentured servants.

- Indentured servants were like slaves, but they would have contracts made to where they would work for a certain amount of time, and when that time was up they would become free.

- Over the next 80 years, indentured servants began to fade, and slavery began to take it’s place.

- In 1705, the Virginia Slave Codes came about and declared what slaves were to be considered.  (Slaves had no rights or privileges and the whites were supposed to keep to the code.  Slaves were considered to be unequal to whites and a lesser person.)

-  At first, slaves were expensive and mostly owned by rich plantation owners.

- Slaves were not only expensive, but also a large investment for those who owned them.  Slaves were not allowed to own anything or be paid so their owners had to house them, feed them, and provide them with other necessities. 

- Even though the slaves were an investment for their owners, they were not treated very well.

- A lot of slave owners did not provide adequate food, shelter, clothing, and other necessities to their slaves.

- Another problem slaves faced was violence from their owners and other whites.

- Violence against slaves was legal at the time, and there were no consequences for the whites who committed it.

- Slaves were beaten and whipped if they did not do their jobs, were not working hard enough, spoke out, and for many other reasons

- Besides the having no rights and the violence, slaves could be separated from their families.  Slaves could be traded or sold at anytime, and be sent away never to see their families again?”

-  Some slaves were treated better or worse than other slaves based on their skin color, and their owner’s attitudes and beliefs about slaves and slavery.

-  Slaves with lighter skin were usually servants and worked inside the homes, while slaves with darker skin were laborers and worked in the fields.

- Slaves with lighter skin were also usually treated better and provided with better necessities than darker skinned slaves.

- At first slavery was in the North and the South, but in the 1750’s the northerners began to think of slavery as a “social evil”, meaning they thought it was wrong.

- From 1780 to 1804, all the states in the north abolished slavery, and set their slaves free.  The south refused to do so, because they depended on the slaves labor since they had no machines to do the work.

- As the slave population began to grow, the price of slaves dropped and poorer farmers were able to buy them.

- With slave prices down, more people were able to afford them, and use them for cheap labor, helping to better the south’s economy.

- By 1860 a lot more people wanted to abolish slavery, and Lincoln who was up for election to become president, was on their side.

- Lincoln was not named on the election ballots of ten states in the south, because slave owners didn’t want slavery to be abolished and they knew Lincoln was for abolishing slavery.

- As president, Lincoln continued to push for the abolishment of slavery in the south, and to free all slaves.

- In 1861, the Civil War began among the northern and southern states.  The war started after the south fired on Fort Sumter.  The war was to reunite the states since the south had declared themselves the “Confederate States of America.”  The south separated from the north over conflicting view, including those about slavery.

- In 1865 Lincoln announced the south or Confederate troops had surrendered, freed their slaves, and abolished slavery.   The Civil War was over, and Lincoln had a lot of hard work ahead of him to repair the South and unite all the states.

- Throughout the war Lincoln was criticized for his decisions and belief about slavery, but he always stood his ground.

- The Native Americans were also being mistreated during the same time as the slaves.

- Native Americans were being forced from their land as white settlers moved in, and had to relocate and rebuild.

- Many tribes were left with no resources, and losing many of their members to starvation, and disease.

- Not only were the Native Americans being forced from their land, but some of them were being used as slaves as well. 

- Native American tribes were angry with the government because of all the broken promises the government had made.

-  The government was not providing a lot of the resources that it had promised, nor was it protecting the Native Americans rights.

- Many tribes began to wage war with the setters and the government to try and get their land, and the resources they had been promised.

- One major war between the Native Americans and the government was the Black Hawk war, which didn’t end in the favor of the Native Americans, unlike the Civil War which did end in favor of the slaves.

- The Native Americans also endure many harsh treatments just like the slaves did.  Their rights were taken away, not given adequate resources, and often killed by the white settlers.