One year into the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln found himself fighting a battle with Congress and the citizens of the United States.
One year into the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln found himself fighting a battle with Congress and the citizens of the United States. The Union was not doing well on the field of battle against the forces of the Confederacy and it seemed the young men of the Union were dying for reasons not understood nor accepted by the public. Why should they give the ultimate sacrifice in order to keep the Union together? If the southern states wanted to go it on their own, why not let them? The price was too high. In fact, Lincoln had several constituencies to keep in the effort or at least to keep from supporting the Confederacy:
1. The general public
2. The border states
3. The slaves and supporters of union in the Confederacy
4. Foreign governments - especially the British
The Emancipation Proclamation became the vehicle by which he did this.
For our final discussion, read the Proclamation and pay particular attention to the points made in it. Then take a look at the constituencies listed above and explain how you think the Proclamation did or did not achieve the goal of keeping them from supporting the Confederacy. Be very specific in your explanations.
It is interesting to follow Lincoln’s thoughts on the issues of war and union from his first inaugural address given on March 4, 1861 to the Emancipation Proclamation, to his second inaugural address given March 4, 1865. There is a copy of the second address in the appendix of the Foner text and links below to the first address and proclamation.
Here are some web sites that you should find of interest to this topic.
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trt039.html
“Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address” with discussion about the crafting od the address and links to photos of various versions and other information.
http://blogs.archives.gov/online-public-access/?p=8650
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured_documents/emancipation_proclamation/index.html
"The Emancipation Proclamation." At the National Archives with related materials links provided.
“Celebrating the 150th Anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation with a New eBook”
Contains links to download this free book to a variety of devises.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/alhtml/malhome.html
"Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress." Includes a section on the Emancipation Proclamation as well as links to some excellent sites dealing with Lincoln and the Civil War.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/cwphtml/cwphome.html
"Selected Civil War Photographs." Largely from the work of Matthew Brady?s studio. There is a special presentation set-up chronologically.