Lincoln emerged as a prominent politician in the state of Illinois in the 1830s; during the earlier years he often described himself as an ‘occasional critic of slavery.’ In the year 1854 Lincoln expressed his feelings towards the institution of slavery, stating that he could not contemplate the political and social equality of blacks – this was due to his intense belief in the Declaration of Independence, framed by Thomas Jefferson and ratified in 1776. The Declaration ‘allowed one man to govern another man, without that other’s consent’ but it did not mention that white and black Americans had political and civil equality. Historian Eric Foner has used this argument of the Declaration of Independence as to why Lincoln opposed slavery, saying that it was due to the violation of republican beliefs and principles. The 1850s marked a more open approach by Lincoln in his views on slavery, he now began to describe a slave worker as being denied the reward for their own labour, which was theft. Lincoln believed that slavery was morally wrong, but it was too imbedded as an institution into the American mindset, especially that of the southerners, that changing this idea through political policies, for example the abolitionism movement, was too problematic and unstable to force onto society. The Southern states were agriculturally orientated and their entire system of economic wealth was based on slave labour, the Northern states on the other hand had began to abolish slavery after the American Revolution 1775-1783, but racism still remained a prominent undertone within society. Tensions surrounding slavery and race reached a peak with the Dred Scott v. Sandford case in 1857; Dred Scott was a slave that had sued for his and his family’s freedom after they had been taken to a state where slavery was illegal. The outcome of the case was determined by Chief Justice Roger Taney who made slavery legal in all territories, this essentially rendered the Missouri Compromise of 1820 useless and the US was now a slave nation in its entirety. Taney was strongly of the opinion that African Americans were an inferior race, and he thought that court rulings would help restore harmony within the slavery controversy. Lincoln stated that the Dred Scott ruling was ‘a burlesque upon judicial decisions.’ By implying the ruling was a joke, Lincoln is displaying his anti-slavery views, which illustrates how his opinions became stronger as he became a more established politician. Many of Lincoln’s supporters have defended his ambiguity over slavery, stating it was due to him ‘just being a politician’ and the need to present and public and political face.