Between the start of the Civil War and the Declaration of Emancipation, what was the reason for Lincoln's...












2















(Apologies in advance: not being American, while I've read up somewhat about the military aspects of the Civil War, I am somewhat unclear as to its political dimension.)



Lincoln did not declare the slaves free until 1863, despite his personal beliefs.



Did he wait because he was not sure of the political support in the North for accepting Abolition as a war aim, along with stopping Secession? Or did he wait to preserve the possibility of negotiations with the Confederacy? If it was the second reason, is there any indication of what he was willing to compromise on? If the first, what changed?



Yes, I've seen What is the context of Lincoln saying: "if I could save the union without freeing any slave I would do it" but it doesn't tell me why he waited and what got him to commit to abolition.










share|improve this question



























    2















    (Apologies in advance: not being American, while I've read up somewhat about the military aspects of the Civil War, I am somewhat unclear as to its political dimension.)



    Lincoln did not declare the slaves free until 1863, despite his personal beliefs.



    Did he wait because he was not sure of the political support in the North for accepting Abolition as a war aim, along with stopping Secession? Or did he wait to preserve the possibility of negotiations with the Confederacy? If it was the second reason, is there any indication of what he was willing to compromise on? If the first, what changed?



    Yes, I've seen What is the context of Lincoln saying: "if I could save the union without freeing any slave I would do it" but it doesn't tell me why he waited and what got him to commit to abolition.










    share|improve this question

























      2












      2








      2








      (Apologies in advance: not being American, while I've read up somewhat about the military aspects of the Civil War, I am somewhat unclear as to its political dimension.)



      Lincoln did not declare the slaves free until 1863, despite his personal beliefs.



      Did he wait because he was not sure of the political support in the North for accepting Abolition as a war aim, along with stopping Secession? Or did he wait to preserve the possibility of negotiations with the Confederacy? If it was the second reason, is there any indication of what he was willing to compromise on? If the first, what changed?



      Yes, I've seen What is the context of Lincoln saying: "if I could save the union without freeing any slave I would do it" but it doesn't tell me why he waited and what got him to commit to abolition.










      share|improve this question














      (Apologies in advance: not being American, while I've read up somewhat about the military aspects of the Civil War, I am somewhat unclear as to its political dimension.)



      Lincoln did not declare the slaves free until 1863, despite his personal beliefs.



      Did he wait because he was not sure of the political support in the North for accepting Abolition as a war aim, along with stopping Secession? Or did he wait to preserve the possibility of negotiations with the Confederacy? If it was the second reason, is there any indication of what he was willing to compromise on? If the first, what changed?



      Yes, I've seen What is the context of Lincoln saying: "if I could save the union without freeing any slave I would do it" but it doesn't tell me why he waited and what got him to commit to abolition.







      american-civil-war






      share|improve this question













      share|improve this question











      share|improve this question




      share|improve this question










      asked 7 hours ago









      Italian PhilosopherItalian Philosopher

      662311




      662311






















          2 Answers
          2






          active

          oldest

          votes


















          3














          @Peter Diehr's answer is a good one and I've upvoted it. But I'd like to expand on that remembering that Lincoln was a very good strategist.



          First, The Civil War was about slavery, and the South's (correct) understanding that the North was growing faster than it was and free states would sooner or later substantially outnumber slave states. (Some of the nominally slave states allowed slavery, but were not economically dependent on it as were the Deep South states. Sentiment for abolition was growing in those states, also. Slavery was doomed under the Union.)



          If the South did nothing, they lost in maybe twenty years when the North would have the political power to abolish slavery. They had to secede when they did.



          Lincoln, OTOH, had history on his side. If he could hold the Union together, then slavery was doomed. Until the war was beyond settlement, his best bet to abolish slavery was to keep the Union together. So in the early days he insisted his only purpose was to hold the Union together.



          Secondly, the Union included several border states which allowed slavery, but where it wasn't the bedrock of the economy. To have a decent chance of winning the war militarily, the North had to hold on to those states. So even the Emancipation Proclamation didn't free the slaves in Union states! Key point: For the Emancipation Proclamation to have effect anywhere it needed to not push the slave states still in the Union into rebellion. So it had to exempt them.



          And then thirdly, as Peter says, once Lincoln had a strong Union victory he could start pushing on ending slavery. Once the North (and foreign countries, especially Great Britain) saw that the Union would end slavery and had to power to do it it's moral authority was immeasurably strengthened which sped the end of the war.






          share|improve this answer































            2














            Lincoln waited until there was a great union victory; the early losses, and the poor showing of the Union generals did not give him a very firm place to stand and make promises.



            Antietam was the victory he was waiting for, and a preliminary declaration was issued at that time.



            See this History channel article on the Emancipation Proclamation for further details and analysis.






            share|improve this answer























              Your Answer








              StackExchange.ready(function() {
              var channelOptions = {
              tags: "".split(" "),
              id: "324"
              };
              initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

              StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
              // Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
              if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
              StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
              createEditor();
              });
              }
              else {
              createEditor();
              }
              });

              function createEditor() {
              StackExchange.prepareEditor({
              heartbeatType: 'answer',
              autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
              convertImagesToLinks: false,
              noModals: true,
              showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
              reputationToPostImages: null,
              bindNavPrevention: true,
              postfix: "",
              imageUploader: {
              brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
              contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
              allowUrls: true
              },
              noCode: true, onDemand: true,
              discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
              ,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
              });


              }
              });














              draft saved

              draft discarded


















              StackExchange.ready(
              function () {
              StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fhistory.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f50649%2fbetween-the-start-of-the-civil-war-and-the-declaration-of-emancipation-what-was%23new-answer', 'question_page');
              }
              );

              Post as a guest















              Required, but never shown

























              2 Answers
              2






              active

              oldest

              votes








              2 Answers
              2






              active

              oldest

              votes









              active

              oldest

              votes






              active

              oldest

              votes









              3














              @Peter Diehr's answer is a good one and I've upvoted it. But I'd like to expand on that remembering that Lincoln was a very good strategist.



              First, The Civil War was about slavery, and the South's (correct) understanding that the North was growing faster than it was and free states would sooner or later substantially outnumber slave states. (Some of the nominally slave states allowed slavery, but were not economically dependent on it as were the Deep South states. Sentiment for abolition was growing in those states, also. Slavery was doomed under the Union.)



              If the South did nothing, they lost in maybe twenty years when the North would have the political power to abolish slavery. They had to secede when they did.



              Lincoln, OTOH, had history on his side. If he could hold the Union together, then slavery was doomed. Until the war was beyond settlement, his best bet to abolish slavery was to keep the Union together. So in the early days he insisted his only purpose was to hold the Union together.



              Secondly, the Union included several border states which allowed slavery, but where it wasn't the bedrock of the economy. To have a decent chance of winning the war militarily, the North had to hold on to those states. So even the Emancipation Proclamation didn't free the slaves in Union states! Key point: For the Emancipation Proclamation to have effect anywhere it needed to not push the slave states still in the Union into rebellion. So it had to exempt them.



              And then thirdly, as Peter says, once Lincoln had a strong Union victory he could start pushing on ending slavery. Once the North (and foreign countries, especially Great Britain) saw that the Union would end slavery and had to power to do it it's moral authority was immeasurably strengthened which sped the end of the war.






              share|improve this answer




























                3














                @Peter Diehr's answer is a good one and I've upvoted it. But I'd like to expand on that remembering that Lincoln was a very good strategist.



                First, The Civil War was about slavery, and the South's (correct) understanding that the North was growing faster than it was and free states would sooner or later substantially outnumber slave states. (Some of the nominally slave states allowed slavery, but were not economically dependent on it as were the Deep South states. Sentiment for abolition was growing in those states, also. Slavery was doomed under the Union.)



                If the South did nothing, they lost in maybe twenty years when the North would have the political power to abolish slavery. They had to secede when they did.



                Lincoln, OTOH, had history on his side. If he could hold the Union together, then slavery was doomed. Until the war was beyond settlement, his best bet to abolish slavery was to keep the Union together. So in the early days he insisted his only purpose was to hold the Union together.



                Secondly, the Union included several border states which allowed slavery, but where it wasn't the bedrock of the economy. To have a decent chance of winning the war militarily, the North had to hold on to those states. So even the Emancipation Proclamation didn't free the slaves in Union states! Key point: For the Emancipation Proclamation to have effect anywhere it needed to not push the slave states still in the Union into rebellion. So it had to exempt them.



                And then thirdly, as Peter says, once Lincoln had a strong Union victory he could start pushing on ending slavery. Once the North (and foreign countries, especially Great Britain) saw that the Union would end slavery and had to power to do it it's moral authority was immeasurably strengthened which sped the end of the war.






                share|improve this answer


























                  3












                  3








                  3







                  @Peter Diehr's answer is a good one and I've upvoted it. But I'd like to expand on that remembering that Lincoln was a very good strategist.



                  First, The Civil War was about slavery, and the South's (correct) understanding that the North was growing faster than it was and free states would sooner or later substantially outnumber slave states. (Some of the nominally slave states allowed slavery, but were not economically dependent on it as were the Deep South states. Sentiment for abolition was growing in those states, also. Slavery was doomed under the Union.)



                  If the South did nothing, they lost in maybe twenty years when the North would have the political power to abolish slavery. They had to secede when they did.



                  Lincoln, OTOH, had history on his side. If he could hold the Union together, then slavery was doomed. Until the war was beyond settlement, his best bet to abolish slavery was to keep the Union together. So in the early days he insisted his only purpose was to hold the Union together.



                  Secondly, the Union included several border states which allowed slavery, but where it wasn't the bedrock of the economy. To have a decent chance of winning the war militarily, the North had to hold on to those states. So even the Emancipation Proclamation didn't free the slaves in Union states! Key point: For the Emancipation Proclamation to have effect anywhere it needed to not push the slave states still in the Union into rebellion. So it had to exempt them.



                  And then thirdly, as Peter says, once Lincoln had a strong Union victory he could start pushing on ending slavery. Once the North (and foreign countries, especially Great Britain) saw that the Union would end slavery and had to power to do it it's moral authority was immeasurably strengthened which sped the end of the war.






                  share|improve this answer













                  @Peter Diehr's answer is a good one and I've upvoted it. But I'd like to expand on that remembering that Lincoln was a very good strategist.



                  First, The Civil War was about slavery, and the South's (correct) understanding that the North was growing faster than it was and free states would sooner or later substantially outnumber slave states. (Some of the nominally slave states allowed slavery, but were not economically dependent on it as were the Deep South states. Sentiment for abolition was growing in those states, also. Slavery was doomed under the Union.)



                  If the South did nothing, they lost in maybe twenty years when the North would have the political power to abolish slavery. They had to secede when they did.



                  Lincoln, OTOH, had history on his side. If he could hold the Union together, then slavery was doomed. Until the war was beyond settlement, his best bet to abolish slavery was to keep the Union together. So in the early days he insisted his only purpose was to hold the Union together.



                  Secondly, the Union included several border states which allowed slavery, but where it wasn't the bedrock of the economy. To have a decent chance of winning the war militarily, the North had to hold on to those states. So even the Emancipation Proclamation didn't free the slaves in Union states! Key point: For the Emancipation Proclamation to have effect anywhere it needed to not push the slave states still in the Union into rebellion. So it had to exempt them.



                  And then thirdly, as Peter says, once Lincoln had a strong Union victory he could start pushing on ending slavery. Once the North (and foreign countries, especially Great Britain) saw that the Union would end slavery and had to power to do it it's moral authority was immeasurably strengthened which sped the end of the war.







                  share|improve this answer












                  share|improve this answer



                  share|improve this answer










                  answered 4 hours ago









                  Mark OlsonMark Olson

                  1,659511




                  1,659511























                      2














                      Lincoln waited until there was a great union victory; the early losses, and the poor showing of the Union generals did not give him a very firm place to stand and make promises.



                      Antietam was the victory he was waiting for, and a preliminary declaration was issued at that time.



                      See this History channel article on the Emancipation Proclamation for further details and analysis.






                      share|improve this answer




























                        2














                        Lincoln waited until there was a great union victory; the early losses, and the poor showing of the Union generals did not give him a very firm place to stand and make promises.



                        Antietam was the victory he was waiting for, and a preliminary declaration was issued at that time.



                        See this History channel article on the Emancipation Proclamation for further details and analysis.






                        share|improve this answer


























                          2












                          2








                          2







                          Lincoln waited until there was a great union victory; the early losses, and the poor showing of the Union generals did not give him a very firm place to stand and make promises.



                          Antietam was the victory he was waiting for, and a preliminary declaration was issued at that time.



                          See this History channel article on the Emancipation Proclamation for further details and analysis.






                          share|improve this answer













                          Lincoln waited until there was a great union victory; the early losses, and the poor showing of the Union generals did not give him a very firm place to stand and make promises.



                          Antietam was the victory he was waiting for, and a preliminary declaration was issued at that time.



                          See this History channel article on the Emancipation Proclamation for further details and analysis.







                          share|improve this answer












                          share|improve this answer



                          share|improve this answer










                          answered 5 hours ago









                          Peter DiehrPeter Diehr

                          5,54711440




                          5,54711440






























                              draft saved

                              draft discarded




















































                              Thanks for contributing an answer to History Stack Exchange!


                              • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

                              But avoid



                              • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

                              • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


                              To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




                              draft saved


                              draft discarded














                              StackExchange.ready(
                              function () {
                              StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fhistory.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f50649%2fbetween-the-start-of-the-civil-war-and-the-declaration-of-emancipation-what-was%23new-answer', 'question_page');
                              }
                              );

                              Post as a guest















                              Required, but never shown





















































                              Required, but never shown














                              Required, but never shown












                              Required, but never shown







                              Required, but never shown

































                              Required, but never shown














                              Required, but never shown












                              Required, but never shown







                              Required, but never shown







                              Popular posts from this blog

                              Knooppunt Holsloot

                              Altaar (religie)

                              Gregoriusmis