This is why Lincoln was elected in the first place. He advertised himself (to the states that cared) as an anti-slavery, pro-tariff candidate. And just like Dems of today, Lincoln used the slavery card as his way to secure power while tax rates continued to rise during his tenure in office. Were there legitimate Republicans that wanted to end slavery? Sure, but Lincoln wasn't one of them according to my interpretation of the evidence. Start with his Inaugural address and you'll see he vowed to protect slavery for all-time, not abolish it. Abolition came a couple of years later after the Union had been slaughtered by the Confederates in several key battles. The issue of slavery was Lincoln's "last card" as it was called in the newspapers of the day. Lincoln was the original RINO in my opinion.