Existing comment:
Lincoln and Slavery:
Abraham Lincoln had always opposed slavery, but never sided with abolitionists who called for its immediate end. He sought solutions that would make slavery gradually fade from white society -- limit its location, sponsor compensation programs for slave owners, and relocate freed blacks outside the country. The war made these gradual solutions woefully inadequate.
On the advice of his cabinet, Lincoln waited for a Union victory before announcing his decision. Without a victory, they feared the proclamation would appear as a meaningless act of an embattled government. On September 22, 1862, five days after Union troops defeated Robert E. Lee's advance at the Battle of Antietam, Lincoln released the proclamation. |