The Opinions of Abraham Lincoln on Slavery & Its Issues (1863)

8/3/2019 The Opinions of Abraham Lincoln on Slavery & Its Issues (1863)

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THEE OPINIOlSrS /; 6 6OF - ^^ABRAHAM LINCOLNUPON

SLAYERT AND ITS ISSUES:INDICATED BYHIS SPEECHES, LETTERS, MESSAGES, AND PROCLAMATIONS.

The antagonism bet"ween Slavery andFreedom, natural. Tke policy of theSlaveocracy foreshado'wed.From Speech at Springfield, 111., June 11, 1858.We are now far into the fifth year since a

policy was initiated with the avowed object,and confident promise, of putting an end toalavery agitation. Under the operation of thatpolicy, that agitation has not only not ceased,but has constantly augmented. In my opin-ion, it will not cease until a crisis shall havebeen reached and passed. "A house dividedagainst itself cannot stand." I believe thisgovernment cannot endure permanently halfslave and half free. I do not expect the Unionto be dissolvedI do not expect the house tofallbut I do expect it will cease to be divi-ded. It will become all one thing or all theOther. Either the opponents of slavery willarrest the further spread of it, and place itwhere the public mind shall rest in the beliefthat it is in the course of ultimate extinction,or its advocates will push it forward till itghall become alike lawful in all the States, oldas well as new, North as well as South.Have we no tendency to the latter condi-tion ? Let any one who doubts, carefully con-template that now almost complete legal com-binationa piece of machinery, so to speakcompounded of the Nebraska doctrine and theDred Scott decision. Let him consider notnly what work the machinery is adapted todo, and how well adapted; but also let himstudy the history of its construction, and trace,if he can, or rather fail if he can, to trace the

evidences of design, and concert of actionamong its chief architects, from the beginningThe People warned of their danger, and

summoned to duty.From the same.Such a decision is all thatslavery now lacks

of being alike lawful in all the States, Wel-come or unwelcome, such decision is proba-bly coming, and will soon be upon us, unlessthe power of the present political dynasty shallbe met and overthrown. We shall lie downpleasantly dreaming that the people of Missouriare on the verge of making their State free,and we shall awake to the reality , instead, thatthe Supreme Court has made Illinois a slaveState. To meet and overthrow the power ofthat dynasty, is the work now before all thosewho would prevent that consummation. Thatis what we have to do. How can we best do it?Free hands and earnest hearts only tobe trusted.

From the same.Our cause must be intrusted to, and con-

ducted by its own undoubted friends, thosewhose hands are free, whose hearts are in thework, who do care for the result.The Popular belief, that Slavery was Inthe course of ultimate extinction, gavethe Country peace. Hatred of Sla-very.

From Speech at Chicago, July 10, 1858.I am tolerably well acquainted with the


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^^n^'^^yhistory of the country, and I know that it haseiKJured eighty-two years, hnlf shivc and halffree. I be.ieve it hud endured, because duringall that time, until the introduction of theNebraska bill, the public mind did rest alllime in the belief that slavery was in thecourse of ultimate extinction. That was whatg.ive us the rest tluit wc had through that pe-liod of eighty-two jears; at least so I believe.I HAVE ALWAYS HATKD SLAVKUY, I THINK, A3MLCn AS ANY ABOLITIONIST.SJavcry a Vast ITIoral Evil.

From the same.The American people look upon slavery as

a vast m oral evil ; they can prove it such bythe writings of those who gave us the bless-ings of liberty which we enjoy; and that the_vso looked upon ii, and not as an evil merelyconfining itself to the States where it is situ-ated.The Infallibility of th9 Dred Scott De-

cision Questioned.From the same.

I have never heard of such a thing [the sa-credness of tho Dred Scott decision.] Why,decisions apparently contrary to that decisionhave been made by that very court before. Itis the first of its kind ; it is an astonisher inlegal history. It is a new wonder of thoworM. It is based upon falsehood in the mainas to the facts. Allegations of facts, uponwhich it stands, are not facts at all, in manyinstances. And no decision made on any ques-tionthe first instance of a decision madevinder so many unfavorable circumstancesthus placed, has ever been held by the protes-sion as law, and it has always needed con-lirmation before the lawyers regarded it as ir-cttlfd law.

jThe Manner in -which the White and IBlack Rac33 can do each other most igood.From the same.

I p-otP5t. now and forever, against thatcounterfeit logic which presumes that because1 did not want a negro woman for a slave, Ido necessarily want her for a wife. My under-standing is that I need not have her for either,l)iit, as God made us separate, wo can leaveone another alone, and do one another muchf^ood thereby. There are white men enough

jto m.irry all the wliite women, and enoughblack men to marry all the black women; and,in God's name, let them be so married.The Declaration of Independence our

jBond of Union with all mankind. \From the same.In every way we are better men in tho age,

and race, and country in which we lire, for

we have done all this, we have not yet reachedthe whole. There is something else connectedwith it. We hare, besides these, mende-scended by blood from our ancestorsamongus, perhaps half our people, who are notdescendants at all of these men ; they are menwho have come from EuropeGerman, Irish,French, and Scandinavianmen that harecome from Europe themselves, or whose an-cestors have come hither and settled here,finding themselves our equals in all things.If they look back through this hi.-^tory, to tracetheir connection with those days by blood,they find they have none; they cannot carrythemselves back into that glorious epoch andmake themselves feel that they are part of us,but when they look through that old Declara-tion of Independence, they find that tliose oldmen say that " We hold these truths to be selfevident, that all men are created equal ;" andthen they feel that that moral sentiment,tiiught in that day, evidences their relation tothose men ; that it is the father of all moralprinciple in them, and that they have a rightto claim it as though they were blood of theblood, and flesh of the flesh, of the men whowrote that Declarationand so they are. Thatis the electric cord in that Declaration thatlinks the hearts of patriotic and liberty-lovingmen together, and will link those patriotichearts as long as the love of freedom exists inthe minds of men throughout the world.The assumption that Slavery is rightdoes not stop V7ith one race.

From the same.Turn in whatever way you willwhether

it come from the mouth of a king, an excusefor enslaving the people of his country, orfrom the mouth of men of one race as a reasonfor enslaving the men of another race it isall the same old serpent; and I hold if thatcourse of argumentation that is made for thepurpose of convincing the public mind thatwe should not care about this, should be begranted, it does not stop with the negro. Ishould like to know if, taking this old Declar-ation of Independence, which declares that allmen are equal upon principle, and making ex-ception to it, when will it stoi>? If one mansays it does not mean a negro, why not anothersay it does not mean some other man ? If thatdeclaration is not the trath, let us get the stat-ute book, in which we find it, and tear it out?Who is 80 bold as to do it ?All quibbling as to the equality of man-kind must be discarded.

From the same.Let us discard all this quibbling about thisman and the other manthis race and thatand


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/76therefore, they must be placed in nn inferiorpo?itiondiscarding our standard that we have

... left us. let us discard all these thinj^s, and unite"^ as one people throughout this land, until weo shall once more stand up declaring that allmen are created equal.The rights of the Negro. An appeal to

the universal sense of justice.From Speech at Springfield, July lY, 1858.Ceitainly the negro is notour equal in colorperhaps not in many other respects ; still in

the right to put into his mouth the bread thathis own hands have earned, he is the equal ofevery other man, white or black. In pointingout that more has been given you, you cannotbe justified in taking away the little which hasbeen given him.The Slaveholders responsible for allagitation.From Speech atJoneihoro, 111., Sept. 15, 1858.All the trouble and convulsion has proceed-

ed from efforts to spread slavery over moreterritory. It was thus at the date of the Mis-souri Compromise. It was so again withthe annexation of Texas ; so with the ter-ritory acquired by the Mexican war, and it is sonow. Whenever there has been an effort tospread it, there has been agitation and resist-ance. Now, I appeal to this audience, (veryfew of whom are my political friends,) as na-tional men, whether we have reason to expectthat the agitation, in regard to this subject,will cease while the causes that tend to repro-duce agitation are actually at work? Willnot the same cause that produced agitation in1820,when the Missouri Compromise was form-edthat which produced the agitation uponthe annexation of Texas and at other timeswork out the same results always? Do youthink that the nature of man will be changed that the same causes that produced agita-tion at one time will not have the same effectat another?As a political rule, the Dred Scott De-

cision not binding. Should be re-versed.From Speech.et Quincy, III., Oct. 13. 1858.Wedo not propose that when Dred Scotthas been decided to be a slave by the court,

we, as a mob, will decide him to be free. Wedo not propose that, when any other one, orone thousand, shall be decided by that courtto be slaves, we will, in any violent way,disturb the rights of property thus settled ;but we nevertheless do oppose that decision asa political rule, which shall be binding on thevoter to vote for nobody who thinks it wrong,which shall be binding on the members of Con-gress or the President to favor no measure

that does not actually concur with the princi-ples of that decision. We do not propose to bebound by it as a political rule in that way, be-cause we think it lays the foundation, notmerely of enlarging and spreading out whatwc consider nn evil, but it lays the foundationof spreading that evil into the States them-selves. We propose so resisting it as to have itreversed if we can, and a new judicial rule es-tablished upon the subject.Discards all affiliation with those who

believe Slavery not wrong.Irom the same.

I will say now, that there is a sentiment inthe country contrary to mea sentiment whichholds that slavery is not wrong, and therefore,it goes for the policy that does not proposedealing with it as a wrong. That policy is theDemocratic policy, and that sentiment is theDemocratic sentiment.

The way to end Slavery agitation.From the same.

I have been stating where we and they stand,and trying to show what is the real differencebetween us; and I now say, that whenever wecan get the question distinctly stated, can getall these men who believe that slavery is insome of these respects wrong, to stand andact with us in treating it as a wrongthen,and not till then, I think we will in some waycome to an end of this slavery agitation.The origin of the assault upon the De-claration of Independence.

From Speech at Alton, Oct. 15, 1858.I know that Mr. Calhoun and all the polit;-

tions of his school, denied the truth of theDeclaration. I know that it ran along in themouth of some southern men for a period ofyears, ending, at last, in that shameful, thoughrather forcible declaration of Pettit of Indiana,upon the floor of the United States Senate,that the Declaration of Independence was inthat respect " a self-evident lie," rather thana self-evident truth. But I say, with a perfectknowledge of all this hawking at the Declar-ation, without directly attacking it, that threeyears ago there never had lived a man whohad ventured to assail it in the sneaking way ofpretending to believe it, and then asserting thatit did not include the negro. I believe the firstman who ever said it, was Chief Justice Tan-ey, in the Dred Scott case.Slavery Ignored by the text of the Con-

stitution.From the same.

In all three of these places, being the onlj


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allusions to slavery in the instrument, covertlanguage is used. Language is used not sug-gesting that slavery existed, or that the blackrace were among us. And I understand thecontemporaneous history of those times to bethat covert language was used with a purpose,and that purpose was that in our Constitution,which it was hoped, and is still hoped, Avillendure foreverwhen it should be read by in-telligent and patriotic men, after the institu-tion of slavery had passed fruiu among usthere should be nothing on the face of thegreat charter of liberty suggesting that such athing as negro slavery had ever existed amongus. This is part of the evidence that thefathers of the Government expected and in-tended the institution of slavery to come toan end. They expected and intended that itshould be in the course of ultimate extinction.And when I say that I desire to see the fi.therspread of it arrested, I only say I desire to seethat done which the fathers have first done.The Consequences of establishing thePrinciple that there is no wrong in

|Slavery.From Speech at Columbus, Ohio, Sept. 1859.Then, I say, if this principle is established,

that there is no wrong in slavery, and who-ever wants it has a right to have it, is a mat-ter of dollars and centsa sort of question asto how they shall deal with brutes ; that be-tween us and the negro here there is no sortof question, but that at the South the ques-tion is between the negro and the crocodile.That is all. It is a mere matter of policy;there is a perfect right, according to interest,to do just as you please ; when this is done,when this doctrine prevails, the miners andsappers will have formed public opinion forthe slave trade. They will be ready for Jeff.Davis, and Stephens, and other leaders of thatcompany, to sound the bugle for the revival ofthe slave trade, for the second Dred Scott de-cision, for the flood of slavery to be pouredover the free States, while we shall be here tieddown and helpless, and run over like sheep.Room enough for All to be !Free.From Speech at Cincinnati, Sept., 1859.

I say there is room enough for us all to befree, and it not only does not wrong the whiteman that the negro should be free, but it posi-tively wrongs the mass of white men that thenegro should be enslaved ; that the mass ofwhite men are really injured by the effectsof slave labor in the vicinity of the fields oftheir own labor.The Government char f^ed ivith the Dutyof redressing all fVrongs lohich artIVroTifjs to itself.

From the same.We want and must have a national policy,

in regard to the institution of slavery, that ac-knowledges and deals with that institution agbeing wrong. Whoever desires the preven-tion of the spread of slavery, and the nation-alization of that institution, yields all, whenhe yields to any policy that either recognisesslavery as being right, or as being an indifferentthing. Nothing will make you successful, butsetting up a policy which shall treat the thingas being wrong. When I say this, I do notmean to say that this General Government ischarged with the duty of redressing or pre-venting all the wrongs in the world ; but I dothink it is charged with preventingand redress-ing all wrongs which are wrongs to itself. ThisGovernment is expressly charged with the dutyof providing for the general v/elfare. We be-lieve that the spreading out and perpetuity ofthe institution of slavery, impairs the generalwelfare.We believe, nay, we know, that that is theonly thing that has threatened the perpetuity ofthe Union itself. The only thing which has evermenaced the destruction of the Governmentunder which we live, is this very thing. Torepress this thing, we think, is providing forthe general welfare.WHAT THE PEOPLE BY THEIR VOTESMUST PREVENT.

From the same.We must prevent the outspreading of the

institution, because neither the ConstitiUionnor the general welfare requires us to extendit. We must prevent the revival of the Afri-can slave trade, and the enacting, by Congress,of a territorial slave code. We must preventeach of these things being done by either Con-gresses or courts. Tlie people of these UnitedStates are the rightful masters of both Con-gresses and courts not to overthrow the Consti-tution, but to overthrow the men who pervertthe Constitution.HE THAT GATHERETH NOT WITH US,SCATTERETH.

From the same.The good old maxims of the Bible are appli-

cable, and truly applicable, to human affairs ;and in this, as in other things, we may sayhere, that he who is not for us is against us;he who gathereth not with us, scattereth.THE EXTENT OF THE JUDGMENT ANDFEKLING AGAINST SLAVERY IN THENATION.From Speech at Cooper Institute, Feb. 27, 1860.Human action can be modified to some ex-

tent, but human nature cannot be changed.There is a judgment and a feeling againstslavery in this nation, which cast, at least, a


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/'/(^million and a half of votes You cannot de-stroy that judgment and feelinnr, that sentiment,bj breaking up the politieal organiz.aiiun',which rallies around it. You can scarcelyscatternnd disperse an army which has beenform.ed into order in the face of your heavi-est fire ; but if you could, how much wouldyou gain by forcing the sentiment which cre-ated it, out of the peaceful channel of the bal-lot-box into some other channel. What wouldthat other channel probably be ? Would thenumber of John Browns be lessened, or enlar-ged by the operation ?The Constitution of the United Statesvindicated. Its framers did not in-tend it to be a Pro-Slavery instru-ment. The stand and deliver Argu-ment. From the same.When this obvious mistake of the Judges

[that the right of property in the slave isdistinctly and expressly affirmed in the Con-stitution] shall be brought to their notice, is itnot reasonable to expect that they will with-draw the mistaken statement, and reconsiderthe conclusion based upon it?And then it is to be remembered that ourfathers, who framed tho Government underwhich w^e live-, the men who made the Consti-tution, decided this same constitutional ques-tion in our fiivor long ago, decided it withouta division amo!ig themselves when makingthe decision ; without division among them-selves about the meaning of it after it wasmade, and, so far as any evidence is left, with-out basing it upon any mistaken stntnmciit offacts.

But 3'ou will not abide the election of aRepublican President. In that supposed event,you say, you will destroy the Union ; and thenyou say the great crime of having destroyed itwill be upon us?That is cool. A highwayman holds a pistol

to ray ear, and mutters through his teeth' Stand and deliver, or I shall kill you ; andthen you will be a murderer !"To be sure, what the robber demanded ofme, my mone}-, was my own ; and I had a clearright to keep it ; but it is no more my ownthan my vote is my own ; and the threat ofdeath to me to extort ray money, and thethreat of destruction to the Union, to extortmy vote, can scarcely be distinguished inprinciple.

The slaveholders implacahlc. Their de-mands unreasonable. Wc cannot yieldwithout surrendering our self-respect.

From the same.The question recursWhat will satisfythem? Simply this: we must not only let

them alone, but we must Bomebow convince

them that we do let them alone. This, weknow by experience, is no easy task. Wehave been so trying to convince them, fromthe very beginning of our orgatii/ation, butwith no success. In all our platforms andspeeches we have constantly protested ourpurpose to let them alone; but this has hadno tendency to convince them. Alike una-vailing to convince them is the fact that theyhave never detected a man of us in any at-tempt to disturb them.

These natural, and apparently adequatemeans, all failing, what will convince them?This, and this only : cease to call slaveryu-ronr/, and join them in calling it right. Andthis must be done thoroughlydone in acts,as well as words. Silence will not be tolera-tedwe must place ourselves avowedly withhem.Nor can we justifiably withhold this on anyground save our conviction that slaver}- iswrong. If slavery is right, all words, acts,

laws, and constitutions against it are them-selves wrong, and should be silenced, andswept away. If it is ri-ht, we cannot justlyobject to its nationality its universality ; if itis wrong, they cannot justly insist upon itsextension, its enlargement. All they ask, wecould readily grant, if we thought slaveryright; all we ask, they could readily grant, ifthey thought it wrong. Their thinking itright, and our thinking it wrong, is the precisefact upon which depends the whole contro-versy. Thinking it right, as they do, theyare not to blame for desiring its full recogni-tion, as being right ; but thinking it wrong, a^we do, can wc yield to them ? Can we castour votes with their view, and against ourown? In view of our moral, social, and po-litical responsibilities, can we do this?

Let US abide by our Faith, and do ourDuty.From (he same.

Neither let us be slandered from our dutyby false accusations against us, nor frightenedfrom it by menaces of destruction to the CJov-ernment, nor of dungeons to ourselves. Letus have faith that right makes might, and inthat faith, let us to the end dare to do ourduty, as we understand it.

The [Han berore the DollnrFrom letter to Boston Jefferson Anniversary Com.

April 6, 1859.

The Democracy of to-day hold the libertyof one man to be absolutely nothing, when inconflict with another man's right of property.Kepublicans, on the contrary, are both for theman and the dollar^ but in the case of conflict,the man before the dollar.


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/yycountrymen, and not in mine, is ihe momen-tou* issue of civil war. Tlie Government willnot assail you.You CAN HAVE NO CONFLICT WITHOUT HEINGYOUUSKLVES TUB AGORKSSOUS. Vou llUVe IIOoath registered in Heaven to destroy the (Jov-ernment ; while 1 shall hare the most solemnone to " preserve, protect and defend " it.lam loath to close. We are not enemies,but friends. We must not be enemies. Thoughpassion may have strained, it must not breakour bonds of affection.The mystic cords of memory, stretching fromevery battle-field and patriot's grave to everyliving heart and hearth stone all over ihisbroad ;lan


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8hem, not one common soldier nor commonailor is known to have deserted liis flfig.Jreat honoris due to those officers who remain-d true, despite the example of their treach-rous associates ; but the greatest honor andhe most important fact of all, is the unani-nous firmness of the common soldiers andailors. To the last man. so far as known,hev have successfuUj resisted the traitorous'ffo'rts of those whose commands lyut an hour>efore they obeyed as absolute law. This is the)atriotic i'nstinct of plain people. They under-hand, without an argument, that the destroy-ng the Government which was made by Wash-ngton, means no good to them. Our popularGovernment has often been called an experi-iient. Two points in it our people have set-tled; the successful establishing and the suc-L-espful administering of it. One still remains,its successful maintenance against a formida-ble internal attempt to overthrow it. It is nowfor them to demonstrate to the world, thatthose who can fairly carry an election, canalso suppress a rebellion ; that ballots are therightful and peaceful successorsof bullets. Andthat when ballots have fairly and contitution-ally decided, there can be no successful appealback to bullets ; that there can be no success-ful appeal except to ballots themselves, at suc-ceeding elections. Such will be a great lessonof peace ; teaching men that what they cannojtake by an election, neither can they take by a-ivarteaching all the folly of being the begin-ners of a war.

The War Power employed with regret.Compromise could not cure, and wouldbe a dangerous precedent.

From the same.It was with the deepest regret that the Ex-

ecutive found the duty of employing the warpower. In defence of the Government forcedupon him, he could but perform this duty, orsurrender the existence of the Government.No compromise by public servants could in thiscase be a cure, not that compromises are notoften proper, but that no popular Governmentcan long survive a marked precedent, that thosewho carry an election, can only save the Govern'ment from immediate destruction, by giving upthe main point upon which the people gave the ele-ction. The people themselves, and not their servants,can safely reverse their own deliberate decisions.Th" President, unswayed by positionand power, does not forget that he isa man and an American citizen.

much less could he, in betrayal of so vast and sosacred a trust as this free people had confided tohim. lie felt that he had no moral right toshrink, nor even to count the chances of his ownlife in ichat might follow.

Men in authority rising with the occa-siorij must think and act anew. Ifthey are self-sacrificing and earn-est in their patriotism, history willdo them justice. In giving freedomto the slave, we assure freedom tothe free.

From Message of December 1, 1862.The dogmas of the quiet past are inade-quate to the stormy preheat. The occasion is

piled high with difficulty, and we must risewith the occasion. As our case is new, so wemust think anew, and act anew. We mustdisenthrall ourselres, and then we shall saveour country.

Fellow-citizens, we cannot escape history.We, of this Congress, and this administration,will be remembered in spite of ourselves. Nopersonal significance, or insignificance, canspare one or another of us. The fiery trialthrough which wo pass, will light us down, inhonor or dishonor, to the latest generation.We sag we are for the Union. The world willnot forget that we say this. We know how tosave the Union. The world knows we do knowhow to save it. Weeren we herehold thepower, and bear the responsibility. In givingfreedom to the slave, we assure freedom to thefreehonorable alike in what we give, andwhat we preserve. We shall nobly save, ormeanly lose, the last, best hope of earth.Other means may succeed ; this could not fail.The way is plain, peaceful, generous, justway which, if followed, the world will foreverapplaud, and God must forever bless.AN APPEAL TO THE PATRIOTISM OFTHE PEOPLE.

From Proclamation of April 15, 1861.I appeal to all loyal eitlKcns to favor, facil-

itate, and aid this effort to maintain the honor,the integrity, and the existence of our Na-tional Union, and the perpetuity of populargovernment ; and to redress wrongs alreadylong enough endured.COMPENSATED EMANCIPATION RE-COMMENDED.

From the same.As a private citizen, the Executive could not

have consented that these institutions shall perish,

From Proclamation of Mag 10, 1362.On the sixth day of March last, by a special

mesdage, I recommended to Congress theadoption of a joint resolution, to be substan-tially as follows:


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Resolved, That the Uoited States ought toco-operate with any State which may adopt agradual abolishment of slavery, giving to suchState pecuniary aid, to be used by such Statein its discretion, to compensate for the incon-veniences, public and private, produced bysuch change of system.The resolution, in the language above quo-ted, was adopted by large majorities in bothbranches of Congress, and now stands an au-thentic, definite, and solemn proposal of thenation to the States and people most imme-diately interested in the subject matter. Tothe people of those States I now earnestly ap-peal. 1 do not argue I beseech you to makethe argument for yourselves. You cannot, ifyou would, be blind to the signs of the times.I beg of you a calm and enlarged considera-tion of tliem, ranging, if it may be, far abovepersonal and partisan politics. This proposalmakes common cause for a common object,casting no reproaches upon any. It acts not thePharisee. The change it contemplates wouldcome gently as the dews of heaven, not rend-ing or wrecking anything. Will you not em-brace it? So much good has not been done,by one effort, in all past time, as in the Provi-dence of God, it is now your high privilege todo. May the vast future not have to lamentthat you have neglected it.

Our national sins acknowledged, andprayerfor clemency and Jorgivenessrecommended*

From Proclamation of March 30/A, 1863, appoint-ing a day offasting and prayer.

May we not justly fear that the awful calam-ity of civil war which now desolates the landmay be but a punishment inflicted upon uslor our presumptuous sins, to the needful endof our national reformation as a whole peo-ple? We have been the recipients of thechoicest bounties of Heaven. We have beenpreserved ihese many years in peace and pros-perity. We have grown in numbers, wealthand power as no other nation has ever grown.But we have forgotten God. We have forgot-ten the gracious hand which preserved us inpeace, and multiplied, enriched, and strength-ened us ; and we have daily imagined, in thedeceitfulness of our hearts, that all these bless-ings were produced by some superior wisdomand virtue of our own. Intoxicated with un-broken success, we have become too self-gufficient to feel the necessity of redeemingand preserving grace, too proud to pray tothe God that made us.

It behooves us, then, to humble ourselvesbefore the offended Power, to confess ournational sins, and to pray for clemency andforgiveness.

The coming of the Emancipation Proc-lamation announced.

From Proclamation of Sept. 26th, 18G2.It is my purpose, upon the next meeting of

Congress, to again recommend the adopliouof a practical measure tendering pecuniaryaid to the free acceptance or rejection of allslave States, so called, the people whereofmay not then be in rebellion against theUnited States, and which States may thenhave voluntarily adopted, or thereafter mayvoluntarily adopt, immediate or gradual abol-ishment of slavery within their respectivelimits; and that the effort to colonize personiof African descent, with their consent, uponthis continent or elsewhere, with the previouslyobtained consent of the governments existingthere, will be continued.That on the first day of January, in the yearof our Lord one thousand eight hundred andsixty-three, all persons held as slaves withinany State or designated part of a State, thepeople whereof shall then be in rebellionagainst the United States, shall be then,thenceforward, and forever free ; and theExecutive Government of the United States,including the military and naval authoritythereof, will recognize and maintain the free-dom of such persons, and will do no act noracts to repress such persons, or any of them,in any efforts they may make for their actualfreedom.

The protection of the Army and Navytendered to the escaped bondmen ofrebels.

capcd(From the tame.)

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Attention is hereby called to an net ofCongress entitled "An act to make an addi-tional article of war," approved March 13,1862, and which act is in the words and figuresfollowing :

^^ Be it enacted by the Senate and House ofRepresentativci of the United States of Americain Congress assembled. That hereafter the fol-lowing shall be promulgated as an additionalarticle of war, for the government of the armyof the United States, and shall be obeyed andobserved as such :

"AuTicr.H.All officers or persons in themilitary or naval service of the United States,are prohibited from employing any of the for-ces under their respective commands for thepurpose of returning fugitives from service orlabor who may have escaped from any personsto whom such service or labor is claimed tobe due ; and any officer who shall be foundguilty by a court-martial of violating thisarticle shall be dismissed from the service."Sec. 2. And be it further enacted. That this

act shall take effect from and after its pas-sage."


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10Also to the ninth nnd tenth sections of an

fict entitled '= An net to suppress insurrection,to punish treason and rebellion, to seize andconiiscate property of rebels, and for otherpurposes,'' approved July 17, 18G2, and whichsections are ia the words and figures follow-ing' :

" Sec. 9. And be it further enacted, That allslaves of persons who shall hereafter be cn-j^'ftgcd in rebellion against the Government ofthe United States, or who shall in any waygive aid or comfort thereto, escaping fromsuch persons and taking refuge witMn thelines of the army ; and all slaves capturedfrom such i)ersons or deserted by them, andcoming under the control of the Governmentof the United States ; and all slaves of suchpersons found on [or] being within any placeoccupied by rebel forces and afterwards occu-pied by the forces of the United States, shallbe deemed captives of war, and shall be for-ever free of their servitude, and not againheld as slaves.

* Sec. 10. And be it further enacted, That noslave escaping into any State, Territory, orthe District of Columbia, from any other State,shall be delivered up, or in any way impededor hindered of his liberty, except for crime, orsome offence against the laws, unless the per-son claiming said fugitive shall first makeoath that the person to whom the labor orservice of such fugitive is alleged to be due ishis lawlul owner, and has not borne armsagainst the United States in the present rebel-lion, nor in any way given aid and comfortthereto: and no person engaged in the militaryor naval service of the United States shall,under any pretence whatever, assume to de-cide on the validity of the claim of any per-son to the service or labor of any other per-son, or surrender up any such person to theclaimant, on pain of being dismissed from theservice."And I do hereby enjoin upon and order allpersons engaged in the military and navalservice of the United States to observe, obey,and enforce, within their respective spheres ofservice, the acts and sections above recited.The Promise Redeemed. The great

historical event of the century. Free-dom proclaimed to the Slave.From Proclamation, Jannary 1, 18G3.

Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, Presi-dent of the United States, by virtue of thepower in me vested as commander-in-chief efthe army and navy of the United States, inlime of actual and arn)ed rebellion againsttlie authority and Government of the UnitedStites. and as a fit and necessary war measurefur suppressing said rebellion, do, on this firstday ot January, in the year of our Lord onethousand eight hundred and siity-three, andin accordance with my purpose so to do, pub-

licly proclaimed for the full period of onehundred days from the day first above men-tioned, order and designate as the States andparts of States wherein the people thereof,respectively, are this day in rebellion againstthe United States, the following, to wit

Arkansas, Teias, Louisiana, (except theparishes of St. Bernard, Plaquemines, Jetferson,St. John, St. Charles, St. James, Ascension, As-sumption, Terre Bonne, Lafourche, St. Mary, St.Martin, and Orleans, including the city of NewCrleans,) Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Geor-gia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Vir-ginia, (except the forty-eight counties desig-nated as West Virginia, and also the countiesof Berkely, Accomac, Northampton, ElizabethCity, York, Princess Ann, and Norfolk, in-cluding the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth,)and which excepted parts are for the presentleft precisely uc 'f this proclamation were notissued.And by virtue of the power and for the pur-pose aforesaid, I do order and declare that allpersons held as slaves within said designatedStates and parts of States, are, and hencefor-ward shall be, free ; and that the ExecutiveGovernment of the United States, includingthe military and naval authorities thereof, willrecognize and maintiiin the freedom of saidpersons.And I hereby enjoin upon the people sodeclared to be free to abstain from all violence,

unless in necessary self-defence ; and I recom-mend to them that, in all cases when allowed,they labor fai'.hfully for reasonable wages.And I further declare and make known thatsuch persons, of suitable condition, will bereceived into the armed service of the UnitedStates to garrison forts, positions, stations,and other places, and to man vessels of allsorts in said service.And upon this act, sincerely believed to bean act of justice, warranted by the Constitu-tion upon military necessity, I invoke theconsiderate judgment of mankind, and thegracious favor of Almighty God.Sympathy ivith the licbellion depicted.

Liberty of Speech, Liberty of thePress, and the Writ of Habeas Corpusdesigned to protect lAbertyy not tosubvert it.

From the Letter to Erastus Coming and others,June 12, 18G3.

Prior to ray installation here it had beeninculcated that any State had a lawful rightto secede from the national Union, and that itwould be expedient to exercise the right when-ever the devotees of the doctrine should failto elect a President to their own liking. Iwas elected contrary to their liking; and, ac-cordingly, 80 far as it was legally possible, theyhad taken seven States out of the Union, had


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II / //seized mnny of the United States forfg, andhad fired upon the United State? flag, lUl beforeI was inaugurated, and, of course, before Ihad done any official act whatever. The re-bellion thus began soon ran into the presentcivil war; and, in certain respects, it began onvery unequal terms between the parties. Theinsurgents had been preparing for it more thanthirty years, while the government had takenno steps to resist them. The former had care-fully considered all the means which could beturned to their account. It undoubtedly wasa well-pondered reliance with thenx that intheir own unrestricted efforts to destroy Union,Constitution, and law, altogether, the govern-ment would, in great degree, be restrained bythe same Constitution and law from arrestingtheir progress. Their sympathizers pervadedall departments of the government and nearlyall communities of the people. From this ma-terial, under cover of " liberty of speech,""liberty of the press," and ''habeas corpus"they hoped to keep on foot amongst us a mostefficient corps of spies, informers, suppliers,and aiders and abettors of their cause in athousand ways. They knew that in times suchas they were inaugurating, by the Constitutionitself, the '-habeas corpus" might be suspended;but they also knew they had friends who wouldmake a question as to who was to suspend itmeanwhile their spies and others might remainat large to help on their cause. Or, if, as hashappened, the Executive should suspend thewrit, without ruinous waste of time, instancesof arresting innocent persons might occur, asare always likely to occur in such cases; andthen a clamor could be raised in regard to this,which might be, at least, of some service tothe insurgent cause. It needed no very keenperception to discover this part of the enemy'sprogramme, so soon as by open hostilities theirmachinery was fairly put in motion. Yet,thoroughly imbued with a reverence for theguaranteed rights of individuals, I was slowto adopt the strong measures which by degreesI have been forced to regard as being withinthe exceptions of the Constitution, and as in-dispensable to the public safety. Nothing isbetter known to history than that courts ofjustice are utterly incompetent to such cases.Civil courts are organized chiefly for trials ofindividuals, or, at most, a few individuals actingin concert; and this in quiet times, and oncharges of crimes well defined in the law.Even in times of peace bands of horsethievesand robbers frequently grow too numerons andpowerful for the ordinary courts of justice.But what comparison, in numbers, have suchbands ever borne to the insurgent sympathizerseven in many of the loyal States ? Again, ajury too frequently has at least one membermore ready to hang the panel than to hang thethe traitor. And yet. again, he who dissuadesone man from volunteering, or induces onesoldier to desert, weakens the Union cause asmuch as he who kills a Union soldier in battle.

Yet this dissuasion or inducement may be soconducted as to be no defined crime of whichany civil court would take cognizance.The logic of the Torpid Copperheads

overturned.From the same.

The man who stands by and says nothingwhen the peril of his govcrrnnent is discussed,cannot bn misunderstood. If not hindered,he is sure to help the enemy ; much more, ifhe talks ambiguouslytalks for his countrywith "buts" and "ifs" and "ands." Of howlittle value the constitutional provisions I havequoted will be rendered, if arrests shall neverbe made until defined crimes shall have beencommitted, may be illustrated by a few notableexamples. General John C. Breckinridge,General Robert E. Lee, General Joseph E.Johnston, General John B. Magruder, Gt-neralWilliam B. Preston, General Simon B. Buck-ner, and Commodore Franklin Buchanan, now-occupying the vry highest places in the rebelwar service, were all within the power of thegovernment since the rebellion began, andwere nearly as well known to be traitors thenas now. Unquestionably if we had seized andheld them, the insurgent cause would be muchweaker. But no one of them had then com-mitted any crime defined in the law. Everyone of them, if arrested, would have been dis-charged on habeas corpus were the writ allowedto op'erate. In view of these and similar cases,I think the time not unlikely to come when Ishall be blamed for baring made too few arrestsrather than too many.''Must I shoot a simple-minded Soldier-

boy, who deserts, ivhile I must nottouch a hair of the loily agitator whoinduces him to desert?''''

From the same.I understand the meeting, whose resolutions

I am considering, to be in favor of suppressingthe rebellion by military forceby armies.Long experience' has shown that armies can-not be maintained unless desertion shall bepunished by the severe penalty of death. Thecase requires, and the law and the constitutionsanction, this punishment. Must 1 shoot asimple-minded soldier boy who deserts, whileI must not touch a hair of a wily agitator whoinduces him to desert? This is none the lessinjurious when efFected by getting a father, orbrother, or friend, into a public meeting, andthere working upon his feelings till he is per-suaded to write the soldier boy that he is fight-ing in a bad cause, for a wicked administrationof a contemptible government, too weak toarrest and punish him if he shall desert. Ithink that in such a case, to silence the agitatorand save the boy is not only constitutional,but withal a great mercy.


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12Constitutional Power in cases of Pub-

lic Danger.From the same.

If I be wrong on this question of constitu-tional power, my error lies in believing thatcertain proceedings are constitutional when, incases of rebellion or invasion, the public safetyrequires them, which would not be constitu-tional when, in absence of rebellion or inva-sion, the public safety does not require them :in other words, that the constitutoin is not,in its application, in all respects the same, incases of rebellion or invasion involving thepublic safety, as it is in times of profoundpeace and public security. The constitutionitself makes the distinction ; and I can nomore be persuaded that the government canconstitutionally take no strong measures intime of rebellion, because it can be shown thatthe same could not be lawfully taken in timeof peace, than I can be persuaded that a par-ticular drug is not good medicine fora sickman,because it can be shown to not be good food fora well one. Nor am I able to appreciate thed;inger apprehended by the meeting that theAmerican people will, by means of militaryarrests during the rebellion, lose the right ofpublic discussion, the liberty of speech and thepress, the law of evidence, trial by jury, audhabeas corpus, throughout the indefinite peace-ful future, which I trust lies before them, anymore than I am able to believe that a man couldcontract so strong an appetite for emeticsduring temporary illness as to persist in feed-ing upon them during the remainder of hishealthful life.

President Lincoln occupies a level higherthan any Party Platform.From the same.

In this time of national peril I would havepreferred to meet you upon a level one stephigher than any party platform; because I amBure that, from such more elevated position, wecould do better battle for the country we alllove than we possibly can from those lowerones where, from the force of habit, the preju-dices of the past, and selfish hopes of the future,we are sure to expend much of our ingenuityand strength in finding fault with, and aimingblows at, each other. iJut since you have de-nied me this, I will yet be thankful, for thecountry's sake, that not all democrats havedone so. He on who.se discretionary judgmentMr. Vallaridighani was arrested and tried is ademocrat, having no old party affinity with me;and the judge who rejected the constitutionalview expressed in these resolutions, by refusingto di-.charge Mr. Vallandigliam on habeat corpugis a democrat of better days than these, havingreceived his judicial mantle at the hands ofPresident Jackson. And still more, of all

those democrats who are nobly exposing theirlives and shedding their blood on the battle-field, I have learned that many approve thecourse taken with Mr. Vallandigbam, while Ihave not heard of a single one condemning it.The example of General Jackson cited.

From the same.It m.iy be remarked : First, that we had thesame Constitution then [when General Jackson

suspended the writ of habeas corpus at NewOrleans, and arrested Judge Hall, and others.]as now; secondly, that we then had a case ofinvasion, and now we have a case of rebellion;and, thirdly, that the permanent right of thepeople to public discussion, the liljerty ofspeech and of the press, the trial by jury, thelaw of evidence, and the habeas corpus, suff-ered no detriment whatever by that conductof General Jackson, or its subsequent approvalby the American Congress.The Commander-in-Chief must take

the responsibility, and ask justifica-tion from the People.From Letter to the Vallandigham Committee,

January 29, 1863.You ask in substance whether I really claimthat I may override all the guarantied rights

of individuals, on the plea of conserving thepublic safety, when I may choose to say thepublic safety reqr.ires it. This question, divest-ed of the phraseology calculated to representme as struggling for an arbitrary personal pre-rogative, is either simply a question who shalldecide, or an affirmation that nobody shall de-cide, what the public safety does require incases of rebellion or invasion. The Consti-tution contemplates the question as likely tooccur for decision, but it does not expresslydeclare who is to decide it. By necessary im-plication, when rebellion or invasion comes,the decision is to be made, from time to time,and I think the man whom, for the time, thepeople have, under the Constitution, made theCommander-in-Chief of their army and navy, isthe man who holds the power, and bears theresponsibility of making it. If he uses thepower justly, the same people will i)roba-bly justify him; if he abuses it, he is in theirhands, to be dealt with by all the modes theyhave reserved to themselves in the Constitu-tion.The whole flatter narrowed down to a

Question between Patriotism andTreason.

From the tame.Your nominee for Governor, (Vallandigham,)

in whose behalf you ap])eal, is known to youand to the world, to declare against the useof an army to suppress the rebellion. Your


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13 f6^own attitude, therefore, encourages desertion,resistance to the draft, and the like, because itteaches those who incline to desert and to es-cape the draft, to believe it is your purpose toprotect them, and to hope that you will becomestrong enough to do so.

After a short personal intercourse with you,gentlemen of the committee, I cannot say Ithink you desire this effect to follow youraltitude ; but I assure you that both friendsand enemies of the Union look upon it in thislight. It is a substantial hope, and by conse-quence, a real strength to the enemy. It isa false hope, and one which you would will-ingly dispel. I will make the way exceedinglyeasy. I send yon duplicates of this letter, inorder that you, or a majority, may, if youchoose, endorse your names upon one of them,and return it thus endorsed to me, with theunderstanding that those signing are therebycommitted to the following propositions, andto noihing else

1. That there is now a rebellion in the Uni-ted States, the object and tendency of whichis to destroy the National Union ; and that inyour opinion an army and navy are constitu-tional means for suppressing that rebellion.

2. That no one of you will do anythingwhich, in his own judgment, will tend to hinderthe increase, or favor the decrease, or lessenthe efficiency of the army and navy while en-gaged in the effort to suppress that rebellion :and

3. That each of you will, in his sphere, doall he can, to have the officers, soldiers, andseamen of the army and navy, while engagedin the effort to suppress the rebellion, paid,fed, clad, and otherwise well provided for andsupported.And with the further understanding thatupon receiving the letter and names thus en-dorsed, I will cause them to be published,which publication shall be, within itself, a re-vocation of the order in relation to Mr. Val-landigham.

NO COMPROMISE WITH REBELS IN ARMSPRACTICAL.From Letter to James C. Conkling, August 26,

1863.

I do not believe any compromise embracingthe maintenance of the Union is now possible.All I learn leads to a directly opposite belief.The strength of the rebellion is its military-its army. That army dominates all the countryand all the people within its range. Any offerof terms made by any man or men within thatrange, in opposition to that army, is simplynothing for the present, because such man ormen have no power whatever to enforce theirside of a compromise, if one were made withihem.

The Emancipation Proclamation justi-fied. Its Benefits pointed out. " 7ViePromise made^ must be kept. ^* " TheJob ivas a (jreat National one, and letnone be banned ivho bore an lionorabh.part in it.'' '^ Thanks to allT' Thememories of Black Men and of " someWhite Ones,'' when Peace shall come.

From the tame.

You disliked the emancipation proclama-tion, and perhaps you would have it retracted.You say it is unconstitutional. I think dif-ferently. I think the Constitution invests itgCommander-in-Chief with the law of war intime of war. The most that can be saidifso much is that slaves are property. Is there,has there ever been, any question that by thelaw of war property, both of enemies andfriends, may be taken when needed? And isit not needed, whenever taking it helps us, orhurts the enemy? Armies, the world over,destroy enemies' property when they cannotuse it, and even destroy their own, to keep itfrom the enemy. Civilized belligerents do allin their power to help themselves or hurt theenemy, except a few things, regarded as bar-barous or cruel. Among the exceptions arethe massacre of vanquished foes and non-com-batants, male and female. But the proclama-tion, as law, cither is valid, or is not valid. Ifit is not valid, it needs no retraction. If it isvalid, it cannot be retracted, any more than thedead can be brought to life. Some of you pro-fess to think its retraction would operate favor-ably for the Union. Why better after the retrac-tion than be/ore the issue. There was moret han a year and a half of trial to suppress therebellion before the proclamation issued ; thelast one hundred days of which passed underan explicit notice that it was coming, unlessaverted by those who revolt, returning to theirallegiance. The war has certainly progressedas favorably for us since the issue of the proc-lamation as before. I know, as fully as onecan know the opinions of others, that some ofthe commanders of our armies in the field,who have given us our most important suc-cesses, believe the emancipation policy andthe use of colored troops couftitutc the heavi-est blow yet dealt to the rebellion, and that atleast one of those important successes couldnot have been achieved when it was, but forthe aid of black soldiers. Among the com-manders holding these views, are some whohave never had any afhmity with what is calledAbolitionism, or with Republican party poli-tics, but who hold them purely as militaryopinions. I submit these opinions, as beingentitled to some weight against the objections


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14often ui^'ed that eni;Micipation and arming thebhicks are unwise as militarv measures, andwere not adopted as such in good faith. Yousay you will not fijjht to free negroes. Someof them seem willing to fight for jou. Butno matter ; fight you, then, exclusively to savethe Union. 1 issued the proclamation on pur-pose to aid you in saving the Union. When-ever you shall have conquered all resistanceto the Union, if I shall urge you to continuefighting, it will be an apt time then for you todeclare that you will not fight to free negroes.1 thought that in your struggle for the Union,to whiitever extent the negroes should ceasehelping the enemy, to that extent it weakenedthe enemy in his resistance to you. Do youthink ditierentiy? I thought that whatevernegroes can be got to do as soldiers, leavesjust so much less for white soldiers to do insaving the Union. Does it appear otherwiseto you ? But negroes, like other people, actupon motives. Why should theij do ant/thiug forits, if u-e tcill do nothing for them ? If they staketheir lives for us, they must be prompted by thestrongest motive, even the promise offreedom. Andthe promise being made, must be kept.The signs look better. The Father of Waters

again goes unvexed to the sea. Thanks to thegreat Northwest for it. Nor yet wholly tothem. Three hundred miles up they met NewEngland, Empire, Keystone, and Jersey, hew-ing their way right aud left. The sunny South,too, in more colors than one, also lent a hand.On the spot, their part of the history was jot-ted down, in black and white. The job was agreat national one, and let none be bannedwho Ijore an honorable part in it. While thosewho have cleared the great river may well beproud, even that is not all. It is hard to saythat anything has been more bravely aud welldone than at Antietam, Murfreesboro', Gettys-burg, and on many fields of lesser note. Normu3t Uncle Sara's web-feet be forgotten. Atnil the watery margins thev have been presentnot only on the deep sea, the broad bay, andthe rapid river, but also up the narrow muddybayou ; and wherever the ground was a littledamp, they have been, and made their tracks.Thanks to all for the great liepublic, for theprinciple it lives by and keeps alivefor man'svast futurethanks to all.Peace does not appear so distant as it did. I

hope it will come soon, and come to stay, andso come as to be worth the keeping in all fu-ture time. It will then have been proved thatamong free men there can be no successtiilappeal from the ballot to the bullet, and thatthey who take such appeal are sure to losetheir case, and y.ay the cost. And then thereMill be some black men uho can remember thatnith fiient tongue and with clenched teeth , andsteady eye and well poised bayonet, they havehelped mankind on to this great consummation ;irhilc I fear (here will be tome white ones unableto forget that with malignant heart and deceitfulspeech they have etrove to hinder it.

THE PROCLAMATIONS IN REGARD TOSLAVERY INVIOLABLE.From the Annual Message, December 8, 18G3.But if it be proper to require as a test

of admission to the political hodif anoath of allep;iayice to the United State^jand to the Union tinder it, tvhif not alsoto the laws and proclamations in regardto Slavery.

Those lairs and proclamations wereput forth for the purpose of aiding inthe suppression of the Rebellion. Togive them the fullest effect there had tobe a pledge for their maintenance. Inmy judgment they have aided, and willfurther aid, the cause for tvhich theywere intended.To notv abandon them woidd be notonly to relinquish a lever (f power, butivould also be a cruel and astoundingbreach offaith.I may add, at this pohxt, while I re-main in my present position I shall notattempt to retract or modify the Eman-cipation Proclamation, nor shall I returnto slavery any person icho i^free by theterms of that Proclamation, or by anyof the acts of Congress."SO FA^ AS TESTED, IT IS DIFFICULTTO SAY THEY ARE NOT AS GOOD SOL-DIERS AS ANY."

From the same.Of those who were slaves at the beginning

of the rebellion, full 100,000 are now in theUnited States military service, about one-lialfof which number actu.'vlly bear arms in theranks, thus giving the double advantage oftaking so much 1 ibor from the insurgent cause,and supplying the places which otherwise mustbe filled with so many white men. So far astested, it is difficult to say they are not as goodsoldiers as any. No servile insurrection ortendency to violence or cruelty has markedthe measures of Emancipation and arming theblacks.

THE WAR POWER OUR CHIEF RELL\NCE.THE ARMY AND NAVY.From the same.

While I do not repeat nor detail what I haveheretofore so earnestly urged upon this subject,my general views and feelings remain un-changed ; and I trust that Congress will omitno fair opportunity of aiding these importantsteps to the great consummation. In the midstof other cares, however important, we mustnot lose sight of the fact that the war power


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Ifi // 1is still our main reliance. To that power alone

|can wc look for a time to give confidence to ithe people in the contested rejijions, tkiit the Iinsurgent power will not again overrun iheni.

The Opinions of Abraham Lincoln on Slavery & Its Issues (1863)

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