Lincoln and Slavery: Lincoln Assumes Command
It must have been a difficult time for Abraham Lincoln from the time of his election in November of 1860 until his inauguration as he watched the nation fall apart while lame duck President James Buchanan did nothing about it. After Fort Sumter fell into Confederate hands, Lincoln realized the importance of taking control of the war and develop a strategy to put down the rebellion.
Lincoln expanded his war powers, and imposed a blockade on all the Confederate shipping ports. He disbursed funds even before they were appropriated by Congress, and suspended the writ of habeas corpus, arresting and imprisoning thousands of suspected Confederate sympathizers without warrant. Lincoln was supported by Congress and the northern public for these actions. He had to contend with reinforcing strong Union sympathies in the border slave states and keeping the war from becoming an international conflict.
From the start, it was clear to Lincoln that bipartisan support would be essential to success in the war effort. Northerners known as Copperheads criticized Lincoln for refusing to compromise on slavery, while Radical Republicans criticized him for moving too slowly in abolishing slavery. On August 6, 1861, Lincoln signed the Confiscation Act that authorized the confiscation and freeing of slaves who were used to support the Confederate war effort.
In late August 1861, General John C. Frémont created controversy on the Republican side when, without consulting Lincoln, he issued a proclamation of martial law in Missouri. He declared that any citizen found bearing arms could be court-martialed and shot, and that slaves of persons aiding the rebellion would be freed. Lincoln overruled Frémont's proclamation because he did not wish to push the border states into supporting the Confederacy. Lincoln's efforts paid off as Union enlistments increased by over 40,000 troops from Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri.
In an incident known as the Trent Affair in late 1861, the U.S. Navy illegally intercepted a British merchant ship the Trent on the high seas and seized two Confederate envoys; Britain protested vehemently while the U.S. cheered. Lincoln resolved the issue by releasing the two men and war was averted with Britain. At first Lincoln relied in foreign policy matters on his Secretary of State, William Seward. But Seward's initial reaction to the Trent affair was too confrontational so Lincoln also turned to Senator Charles Sumner, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and an expert in British diplomacy.
To learn technical military strategy, Lincoln borrowed and studied Henry Halleck's book, Elements of Military Art and Science from the Library of Congress. He monitored the telegraphic reports coming into the War Department in Washington D.C. and kept close tabs on all phases of the military effort. In January 1862, after many complaints of inefficiency and profiteering in the War Department, Lincoln replaced his Secretary of War Simon Cameron with Edwin Stanton. Stanton proved to be highly energetic and efficient. Stanton was a conservative Democrats (he supported Breckenridge in the 1860 election and who became an anti-slavery Republican.
Lincoln understood that the Federal government's power to end slavery was limited by the Constitution, which committed the issue to individual states. He believed that the eventual extinction of slavery would result from preventing its expansion into new U.S. territory. At the beginning of the war, he also sought to persuade the states to accept compensated emancipation in return for their prohibition of slavery (an offer that took effect only in Washington, D.C., in April 1862). Lincoln believed that curtailing slavery in these ways would economically expunge it.
On June 19, 1862, Congress passed an act banning slavery on all federal territory, and in July 1862 passed the Second Confiscation Act, which set up court procedures that could free the slaves of anyone convicted of aiding the rebellion. Although Lincoln believed it was not within Congress's power to free the slaves within the states, he approved the bill in deference to the legislature. He felt such action could only be taken by the commander-in-chief using war powers granted to the president by the Constitution, and Lincoln was planning to take that action. In that month, Lincoln discussed a draft of the Emancipation Proclamation with his cabinet. In it, he stated that "as a fit and necessary military measure, on January 1, 1863, all persons held as a slaves in the Confederate states will thenceforward, and forever, be free."
Privately, Lincoln concluded at this point that the war could not be won without freeing the slaves. However the Confederacy made it clear that emancipation was a stumbling block to peace. In response to this, Lincoln wrote:
"My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union... I have here stated my purpose according to my view of official duty; and I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men everywhere could be free."
Lincoln had over and over again made clear that he wanted the states to emancipate the slaves (which they did in 1865 by ratifying the Thirteenth Amendment). His role in leading the national army would be to save the union, using every tool available, including complete or partial emancipation (he employed partial emancipation).
The Emancipation Proclamation, issued on September 22, 1862, and put into effect on January 1, 1863, declared free the slaves in ten states not then under Union control, with exemptions specified for areas already under Union control in two states. Once the abolition of slavery in the rebel states became a military objective, as Union armies advanced south, more slaves were liberated until over three million of them in Confederate territory were freed. Lincoln's comment on the signing of the Proclamation was: "I never, in my life, felt more certain that I was doing right, than I do in signing this paper."
Lincoln continued earlier plans to set up colonies for the newly freed slaves. He commented favorably on colonization in the Emancipation Proclamation, but all attempts at such a massive undertaking failed. A few days after Emancipation was announced, 13 Republican governors met at the War Governors' Conference; they supported the president's Proclamation.
Using former slaves in the military was official government policy after the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation. At first, Lincoln was reluctant to fully implement this program, but by the spring of 1863, he was ready to initiate "a massive recruitment of Negro troops". In a letter to Andrew Johnson, the military governor of Tennessee, encouraging him to lead the way in raising black troops, Lincoln wrote, "The bare sight of 50,000 armed and drilled black soldiers on the banks of the Mississippi would end the rebellion at once". By the end of 1863, at Lincoln's direction, General Lorenzo Thomas had recruited 20 regiments of African-Americans from the Mississippi Valley. The Abolitionist and former slave Frederick Douglass said of Lincoln: "In his company, I was never reminded of my humble origin, or of my unpopular color".
Lincoln expanded his war powers, and imposed a blockade on all the Confederate shipping ports. He disbursed funds even before they were appropriated by Congress, and suspended the writ of habeas corpus, arresting and imprisoning thousands of suspected Confederate sympathizers without warrant. Lincoln was supported by Congress and the northern public for these actions. He had to contend with reinforcing strong Union sympathies in the border slave states and keeping the war from becoming an international conflict.
From the start, it was clear to Lincoln that bipartisan support would be essential to success in the war effort. Northerners known as Copperheads criticized Lincoln for refusing to compromise on slavery, while Radical Republicans criticized him for moving too slowly in abolishing slavery. On August 6, 1861, Lincoln signed the Confiscation Act that authorized the confiscation and freeing of slaves who were used to support the Confederate war effort.
In late August 1861, General John C. Frémont created controversy on the Republican side when, without consulting Lincoln, he issued a proclamation of martial law in Missouri. He declared that any citizen found bearing arms could be court-martialed and shot, and that slaves of persons aiding the rebellion would be freed. Lincoln overruled Frémont's proclamation because he did not wish to push the border states into supporting the Confederacy. Lincoln's efforts paid off as Union enlistments increased by over 40,000 troops from Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri.
In an incident known as the Trent Affair in late 1861, the U.S. Navy illegally intercepted a British merchant ship the Trent on the high seas and seized two Confederate envoys; Britain protested vehemently while the U.S. cheered. Lincoln resolved the issue by releasing the two men and war was averted with Britain. At first Lincoln relied in foreign policy matters on his Secretary of State, William Seward. But Seward's initial reaction to the Trent affair was too confrontational so Lincoln also turned to Senator Charles Sumner, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and an expert in British diplomacy.
To learn technical military strategy, Lincoln borrowed and studied Henry Halleck's book, Elements of Military Art and Science from the Library of Congress. He monitored the telegraphic reports coming into the War Department in Washington D.C. and kept close tabs on all phases of the military effort. In January 1862, after many complaints of inefficiency and profiteering in the War Department, Lincoln replaced his Secretary of War Simon Cameron with Edwin Stanton. Stanton proved to be highly energetic and efficient. Stanton was a conservative Democrats (he supported Breckenridge in the 1860 election and who became an anti-slavery Republican.
Lincoln understood that the Federal government's power to end slavery was limited by the Constitution, which committed the issue to individual states. He believed that the eventual extinction of slavery would result from preventing its expansion into new U.S. territory. At the beginning of the war, he also sought to persuade the states to accept compensated emancipation in return for their prohibition of slavery (an offer that took effect only in Washington, D.C., in April 1862). Lincoln believed that curtailing slavery in these ways would economically expunge it.
On June 19, 1862, Congress passed an act banning slavery on all federal territory, and in July 1862 passed the Second Confiscation Act, which set up court procedures that could free the slaves of anyone convicted of aiding the rebellion. Although Lincoln believed it was not within Congress's power to free the slaves within the states, he approved the bill in deference to the legislature. He felt such action could only be taken by the commander-in-chief using war powers granted to the president by the Constitution, and Lincoln was planning to take that action. In that month, Lincoln discussed a draft of the Emancipation Proclamation with his cabinet. In it, he stated that "as a fit and necessary military measure, on January 1, 1863, all persons held as a slaves in the Confederate states will thenceforward, and forever, be free."
Privately, Lincoln concluded at this point that the war could not be won without freeing the slaves. However the Confederacy made it clear that emancipation was a stumbling block to peace. In response to this, Lincoln wrote:
"My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union... I have here stated my purpose according to my view of official duty; and I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men everywhere could be free."
Lincoln had over and over again made clear that he wanted the states to emancipate the slaves (which they did in 1865 by ratifying the Thirteenth Amendment). His role in leading the national army would be to save the union, using every tool available, including complete or partial emancipation (he employed partial emancipation).
The Emancipation Proclamation, issued on September 22, 1862, and put into effect on January 1, 1863, declared free the slaves in ten states not then under Union control, with exemptions specified for areas already under Union control in two states. Once the abolition of slavery in the rebel states became a military objective, as Union armies advanced south, more slaves were liberated until over three million of them in Confederate territory were freed. Lincoln's comment on the signing of the Proclamation was: "I never, in my life, felt more certain that I was doing right, than I do in signing this paper."
Lincoln continued earlier plans to set up colonies for the newly freed slaves. He commented favorably on colonization in the Emancipation Proclamation, but all attempts at such a massive undertaking failed. A few days after Emancipation was announced, 13 Republican governors met at the War Governors' Conference; they supported the president's Proclamation.
Using former slaves in the military was official government policy after the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation. At first, Lincoln was reluctant to fully implement this program, but by the spring of 1863, he was ready to initiate "a massive recruitment of Negro troops". In a letter to Andrew Johnson, the military governor of Tennessee, encouraging him to lead the way in raising black troops, Lincoln wrote, "The bare sight of 50,000 armed and drilled black soldiers on the banks of the Mississippi would end the rebellion at once". By the end of 1863, at Lincoln's direction, General Lorenzo Thomas had recruited 20 regiments of African-Americans from the Mississippi Valley. The Abolitionist and former slave Frederick Douglass said of Lincoln: "In his company, I was never reminded of my humble origin, or of my unpopular color".