Was Abraham Lincoln an abolitionist? If so why?

Answer: It marginally depends.

Explanation:

Most would say yes. I'm actually leaning more towards no on this, but I had a teacher who constantly said the Emancipation Proclamation was a war tactic. Let me explain;

For a long time, African Americans were not allowed to enlist in the army, not even in the Union side. That was directly in Lincoln's control.

Why was it a war tactic? Well, that lies in the question of were they really free? The common misconception of the South, as my teacher once put it, is that "The South didn't fight for slavery. They fought for the rights for states to have a choice in what they enact." It still meant slavery, but not just slavery.

The Emancipation Proclamation, according to said teacher, only freed slaves to ruffle the south's feathers. Let's be honest, the proclamation didn't work anyway, so it doesn't even mean much, most plantation owners never even told their slaves this happened! Maybe a few did let their slaves go free.

Want a good example of a abolitionist? John Brown is the perfect example of an abolitionist. He was a jack of all trades, supporting both women and slave's rights. He's not the best guy, but he actually made valiant efforts to change the tides of slavery (such as his infamous Raid on Harper's Ferry to start a slave-armed insurrection.) Some even argue he started the war.

Lincoln, if you compare him to Brown, Douglass, or Tubman, really wasn't an abolitionist.

Lincoln stated he was against miscegenation and allowing blacks to serve as jurors. While President, as the American Civil War progressed, Lincoln advocated or implemented anti-racist policies including the Emancipation Proclamation and limited suffrage for African Americans.