Answer:
Lincoln's stance before and in the start of the war was primarily to just stop the expansion of slavery. He was a free-soiler, which believed that slavery can stay where it is now, but it cannot expand to newer territories that were created. However, as the war progressed Lincoln became a abolitionist, and passed the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed all slaves in the South. He was able to carry it through by winning the civil war.
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