'I esteem foreigners no better than other people, not any worse' — Abraham Lincoln, Ohio, 1861
On this day in 1861, America's greatest Republican president, America's greatest president, spoke to a German immigrant crowd in Cincinnati, Ohio. He touched on the issue of immigration.
In regard to Germans and foreigners, I esteem foreigners no better than other people, nor any worse. [Laughter and cheers.] They are all of the great family of men, and if there is one shackle upon any of them, it would be far better to lift the load from them than to pile additional loads upon them. [Cheers.] And inasmuch as the continent of America is comparatively a new country, and the other countries of the world are old countries, there is more room here, comparatively speaking, than there is there; and if they can better their condition by leaving their old homes, there is nothing in my heart to forbid them coming; and I bid them all God speed. [Cheers.
A longer excerpt is up on Speakola.
Lincoln had long been a champion of immigration, and during the Civil War, he was particularly ardent that immigration should be encouraged, as factory and farm workers were drafted out of occupations to serve in the military. Lincoln regarded new arrivals as assets, a vital replenishment to a labour market under the strain of war.
In his third State of the Union, on 8th of December 1863, the president said:
