James Baldwin

“ He saw gangs of slaves being driven through the streets. He visited the slave-market, and saw women and girls sold to the highest bidder like so many cattle.
The young man, who would not be unkind to any living being, was shocked by these sights. ”

“ Offut, the owner of the flatboat which he had taken down, then employed him to act as clerk in a country store which he had at New Salem.
New Salem was a little town not far from Springfield.
Young Lincoln was a good salesman, and all the customers liked him. Mr. Offut declared that the young man knew more than anyone else in the United States, and that he could outrun and outwrestle any man in the county.
But in the spring of the next year Mr. Offut failed. The store was closed, and Abraham Lincoln was out of employment again. ”