[central_va]

Or was he right to use the power at his disposal to end slavery?

Lincoln was a racist and cared little about freeing slaves until he ran out of Irish conscripts to throw at Lee and the ANV.

[GilesB]

OK - but the environment that bred the Civil War was the disagreement about slavery. The Civil War ended slavery in the United States. The question remains, was Lincoln right to use the power at his disposal to end slavery? Your answer simply states your opinion about Lincoln and his motivation for issuing the emancipation proclamation, but says nothing about the rightness or wrongness of his action.

[Cheburashka]

Lincoln was a racist and cared little about freeing slaves until he ran out of Irish conscripts to throw at Lee and the ANV.

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The slavemasters instituted conscription in the rebel areas on April 16, 1862. The United States was forced to match them on July 17, 1862. The slavemasters must have found it hard to find men willing to die in their war to protect and perpetuate slavery and decided to start making slaves of whites, including the Irish, as well.

[GunRunner]

Lincoln was a racist and cared little about freeing slaves...

So he was a Confederate at heart?