Existing comment:
1862:
April 16, 1862
President Lincoln signs legislation to end slavery in the District of Columbia.
Since his inauguration Lincoln has affirmed that he must do nothing to alienate the border states teetering on the edge of secession. With the war going badly he begins to rethink his options.
July 13, 1862
En route to the funeral of Secretary of War Edwin Stanton's infant son, Lincoln confides that he is seriously thinking of emancipating southern states as "a military necessity."
"We had about played our last card," Lincoln would say later, "and must change our tactics, or lose the game." |