Here is a nice except from a PBS story where Lincoln acknowledged not initially ending slavery and when he did only did it in the south and not the north. Kind of hypocritical is it not?
On November 6, 1860 Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United States — an event that outraged southern states. The Republican party had run on an anti-slavery platform, and many southerners felt that there was no longer a place for them in the Union. On December 20, 1860, South Carolina seceded. By February 1, 1861, six more states — Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas — had split from the Union. The seceded states created the Confederate States of America and elected Jefferson Davis, a Mississippi Senator, as their provisional president.
In his inaugural address, delivered on March 4, 1861, Lincoln proclaimed that it was his duty to maintain the Union. He also declared that he had no intention of ending slavery where it existed, or of repealing the Fugitive Slave Law — a position that horrified African Americans and their white allies. Lincoln’s statement, however, did not satisfy the Confederacy, and on April 12 they attacked Fort Sumter, a federal stronghold in Charleston, South Carolina. Federal troops returned the fire. The Civil War had begun.
Immediately following the attack, four more states — Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee — severed their ties with the Union. To retain the loyalty of the remaining border states — Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri — President Lincoln insisted that the war was not about slavery or black rights; it was a war to preserve the Union. His words were not simply aimed at the loyal southern states, however — most white northerners were not interested in fighting to free slaves or in giving rights to black people. For this reason, the government turned away African American voluteers who rushed to enlist. Lincoln upheld the laws barring blacks from the army, proving to northern whites that their race privilege would not be threatened.
There was an exception, however. African Americans had been working aboard naval vessels for years, and there was no reason that they should continue. Black sailors were therefore accepted into the U.S. Navy from the beginning of the war. Still, many African Americans wanted to join the fighting and continued to put pressure on federal authorities. Even if Lincoln was not ready to admit it, blacks knew that this was a war against slavery. Some, however, rejected the idea of fighting to preserve a Union that had rejected them and which did not give them the rights of citizens.
The federal government had a harder time deciding what to do about escaping slaves. Because there was no consistent federal policy regarding fugitives, individual commanders made their own decisions. Some put them to work for the Union forces; others wanted to return them to their owners. Finally, on August 6, 1861, fugitive slaves were declared to be “contraband of war” if their labor had been used to aid the Confederacy in any way. And if found to be contraband, they were declared free.
As the northern army pushed southward, thousands of fugitives fled across Union lines. Neither the federal authorities nor the army were prepared for the flood of people, and many of the refugees suffered as a result. Though the government attempted to provide them with confiscated land, there was not enough to go around. Many fugitives were put into crowded camps, where starvation and disease led to a high death rate. Northern citizens, black and white alike, stepped in to fill the gap. They organized relief societies and provided aid. They also organized schools to teach the freedmen, women, and children to read and write, thus giving an education to thousands of African Americans throughout the war.
Though “contraband” slaves had been declared free, Lincoln continued to insist that this was a war to save the Union, not to free slaves. But by 1862, Lincoln was considering emancipation as a necessary step toward winning the war. The South was using enslaved people to aid the war effort. Black men and women were forced to build fortifications, work as blacksmiths, nurses, boatmen, and laundresses, and to work in factories, hospitals, and armories. In the meantime, the North was refusing to accept the services of black volunteers and freed slaves, the very people who most wanted to defeat the slaveholders. In addition, several governments in Europe were considering recognizing the Confederacy and intervening against the Union. If Lincoln declared this a war to free the slaves, European public opinion would overwhelmingly back the North.
On July 22, 1862, Lincoln showed a draft of the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation to his cabinet. It proposed to emancipate the slaves in all rebel areas on January 1, 1863. Secretary of State William H. Seward agreed with the proposal, but cautioned Lincoln to wait until the Union had a major victory before formally issuing the proclamation. Lincoln’s chance came after the Union victory at the Battle of Antietam in September of 1862. He issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation on September 22. The proclamation warned the Confederate states to surrender by January 1, 1863, or their slaves would be freed.
Some people were critical of the proclamation for only freeing some of the slaves. Others, including Frederick Douglass, were jubilant. Douglass felt that it was the beginning of the end of slavery, and that it would act as a “moral bombshell” to the Confederacy. Yet he and others feared that Lincoln would give in to pressure from northern conservatives, and would fail to keep his promise. Despite the opposition, however, the president remained firm. On January 1, 1863, he issued the final Emancipation Proclamation. With it he officially freed all slaves within the states or parts of states that were in rebellion and not in Union hands. This left one million slaves in Union territory still in bondage.
Not really. The Confiscation Acts gave Lincoln the authority to end slavery in areas still in rebellion while the Constitution prevented him from doing so in areas that were not. Ending slavery there required the 13th Amendment, which Lincoln strongly supported and helped push through the House.
Great posts.
When I was in SC recently I ate up the stuff and bought a few books at the Museum and Library of Confederate History in Greenville.
A couple of days later I was at The Citadel in Charleston for the cadet’s Friday parade. When the band struck up the National Anthem I placed my hand over heart and tried to choke back the tears which always seem to come when that melody takes me through the sweep of American history.
“...Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land. God Bless the USA!”
...And the CSA too. God, I love Dixie!
So what happened Before Lincoln was elected President - as the first Republican president?
Who controlled the United States Supreme Court?
“Hint: Dred Scott (May 6th 1857). In a 7–2 decision written by Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, the Court denied Scott’s request. For only the second time in its history the Supreme Court ruled an Act of Congress to be unconstitutional”
Who controlled the Presidency?
“James Buchanan Democrat
Who controlled the Vice presidency?
“John C. Breckinridge (1821–1875) Kentucky
March 4, 1857 (age 36) March 4, 1861 (age 40) Democratic “
Who controlled the Senate?
“33 Seats needed for a majority.
Democratic 41 Seats +2 seat gain
Republican 20 Seats +19 seats
American 5 Seat +4 seats
Who controlled the House?
“114 Seats needed for a majority. 1856
Democratic 133 Seats +50 seat gain
Republican 90 Seats -10 seats
American 14 Seat -37 seats”
“120 Seats needed for a majority. 1858
Republican 116 Seats 26 seats
Democratic 98 Seats -25 seat”
Far from being in an ‘abused minority’, the Democrats had been having their way and running the government for a while.