Changes

:’’ 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.”’’

:’’ 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.”’’

Lincoln was willing to play a major part in removing slavery altogether during the war.  He first proposed an idea in which slaves were to be freed gradually by the actions of the states, with the federal government sharing the cost of compensation.  None of the border states were willing to implement it, and no prominent African-American leader was willing to see newly-freed blacks sent to Africa, as part of the idea called or.

Lincoln was willing to play a major part in removing slavery altogether during the war.  He first proposed an idea in which slaves were to be freed gradually by the actions of the states, with the federal government sharing the cost of compensation.  None of the border states were willing to implement it, and no prominent African-American leader was willing to see newly-freed blacks sent to Africa, as part of the idea called for.

But with the victory at Antietam in September 1862, Lincoln brought out an idea which he read before his cabinet, that slaves held in the Confederate States were declared to be free.  He would declare it formally with his Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863.  Although it did not include those areas under Union control, and officially it was a war measure, it had a great deal of significance as a symbol, and European countries who had toyed with the idea of recognizing the Confederacy abandoned it and supported the Union.

But with the victory at Antietam in September 1862, Lincoln brought out an idea which he read before his cabinet, that slaves held in the Confederate States were declared to be free.  He would declare it formally with his Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863.  Although it did not include those areas under Union control, and officially it was a war measure, it had a great deal of significance as a symbol, and European countries who had toyed with the idea of recognizing the Confederacy abandoned it and supported the Union.

Feeling also that at war’s end the freed slaves would be put back, as the Proclamation was not constitutional, Lincoln had done something else: he drafted the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which stated slavery was illegal except for crimes committed.  He also urged the Republican Party to add the proposed amendment as a plank to the 1864 presidential campaign, stating slavery was the cause of the war, and that the Proclamation had aimed “a death blow at this gigantic evil;” only by a constitutional amendment could slavery be rendered extinct.  After the election, Lincoln did not wait for the new Congress.  He got the two-thirds needed for ratification before the year was over, and rejoiced when his state of Illinois led the way.

Feeling also that at war’s end the freed slaves would be put back, as the Proclamation was not constitutional, Lincoln had done something else: he drafted the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which stated slavery was illegal except for crimes committed.  He also urged the Republican Party to add the proposed amendment as a plank to the 1864 presidential campaign, stating slavery was the cause of the war, and that the Proclamation had aimed “a death blow at this gigantic evil;” only by a constitutional amendment could slavery be rendered extinct.  After the election, Lincoln did not wait for the new Congress.  He got the two-thirds needed for ratification before the year was over, and rejoiced when his state of Illinois led the way.

==Politics in war==

==Politics in war==