Use the passage to answer the question.

“If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it; and if I could do it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it; and if I could do it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that.”
-Abraham Lincoln August 22, 1862



Based on the quote, what is Lincoln’s primary goal?

A. freeing the slaves

B. punishing the South

C. preserving the Union

D. not addressing slavery