Because Lincoln had no constitutional authority to abolish slavery in the north. He did, however, have constitutional authority to treat slaves as “contraband of war” after congress passed the confiscation acts in 1861 and 1862. The second act stated slaves of civilian and military rebels “shall be forever free.”
Lincoln did lobby hard to get the amendment banning slavery passed, and even signed it, which was not required by the constitution.
How do you claim that the "property" of all persons residing in the territory of the seceded states is "contraband of war"?
By what authority does a president have to seize all of a specific class of "property" in an entire state without allowing all citizens to have "due process" before their "property" is seized without compensation?
If a president has the power to *DECREE* that all of one class of property may be seized from all citizens residing in a particular area, then he has the same power to decree that all other classes of property be seized too.
If you make the argument that slaves are "contraband of war", are not cows and pigs and chickens and wagons and farm houses and carriages and trees and the very land itself not also "contraband of war"?
Why is one thing "contraband of war" and not every other thing as well? And if you are seizing "contraband of war" with no due process, then does not the United States government have the legal right to seize every f***ing thing?
And you are telling me the US constitution grants this sort of awesome powers to the President?
That's not how I understand the constitution. It doesn't go so far as to allow the President to ignore "due process" for American citizens.