Lincoln the Antislavery President

LINCOLN THE ANTISLAVERY PRESIDENT
1863 to 1865

Slavery ended in successive phases—through Abraham Lincoln’s military leadership and legislative efforts as well as in his personal understanding of the problem. Lincoln’s approach to ending slavery evolved as he viewed it alternately as a political, then military, and ultimately humanitarian issue. In time, he named it as the cause of the Civil War: linking secession to slavery meant that defeating one would debilitate the other. Next, to win the war he freed the slaves: in defending the Emancipation Proclamation, he refined his advocacy for African Americans as exemplary soldiers and civilians. By the time of his run for a second term, Lincoln had embraced his status as a defender not only of the Union but of Black freedom: as his campaign literature stated, the formerly enslaved would now be instrumental in defeating the Confederacy. After his reelection, Lincoln worked to pass the Thirteenth Amendment: the only Constitutional means to forever abolish slavery.

Abraham Lincoln, Opinions . . . upon Slavery and Its Issues (Washington: Union Congressional Committee, 1864).

Abraham Lincoln, “War Policy of the Administration. Letter of the President to the Union Mass Convention at Springfield,” Evening Journal Documents (Albany [NY]: Albany Journal, 1863).

Abraham Lincoln and Joseph Trotter Mills, “Interview with the President,” President Lincoln and General Grant on Peace and War (n.p.: n.p., [1864]).

[Thirteenth Amendment], A Resolution Submitting to the Legislatures of the Several States a Proposition to Amend the Constitution of the United States. Signed by Abraham Lincoln, Hannibal Hamlin, and 36 Senators of the 38th Congress (Washington: Vellum document accomplished in manuscript, 1865).

[Thirteenth Amendment], “Abolition of Slavery,” National Freedman (New York: National Freedman’s Relief Association, 1865).

Frederick Douglass, Life and Times of Frederick Douglass (Hartford [CT]: Hart, 1881).

Sojourner Truth, Narrative of Sojourner Truth (Boston: Published for the Author, 1875).

Elizabeth Keckley, Behind the Scenes (New York: Carleton, 1868).

William G. Eliot, The Story of Archer Alexander (Boston: Cupples [et al.], 1885).

[Albumen Portrait Collage of Politicians that Passed the Thirteenth Amendment Politicians] (New York: Powell & Co., 1865).

Abraham Lincoln, By the President of the United States of America: A Proclamation. [Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction] (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1863).

Abraham Lincoln, Amnesty Proclamation and Third Annual Message (Washington: n.p., 1863).

With Malice / Toward None / With Charity for All (New York: Currier & Ives [printed later, ca. 1875]).

National Inauguration Ball. March 4th, 1865 (Washington: n.p., 1865).