Phoenix Woman — Lincoln’s Remarks on Labor and Capital

Abe Lincoln’s words have been appropriated by various groups for various purposes, and words have often been put in his mouth by people seeking to use him and his reputation to further their own causes. But the recent Upworthy spotlighting of his remarks on labor and capital, found in his December 1861 annual message to Congress, is a pretty accurate representation of his thoughts on the matter.

In a speech of nearly seven thousand words, the newly-elected President Lincoln uses six hundred and sixty-five of them — nearly a tenth of his total speech, at a time when the South had but a few months earlier fired upon Fort Sumter to start the American Civil War — to state his opinion that the rights of the laborer trump those of the capitalist.
Here are his remarks in full:

Firedoglake
Late Night: Lincoln’s Remarks on Labor and Capital

Phoenix Woman