Question

In a letter to Horace Greeley in 1862, Lincoln writes, "If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that." Of those possibilities, which did he actually, ultimately, do?

Answer 1

Abraham Lincoln ultimately chose to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed all slaves in Confederate-held territory during the American Civil War. So, of the possibilities mentioned in his letter to Horace Greeley, he pursued the course of action of "freeing all the slaves." Lincoln believed that this proclamation would weaken the Confederate war effort and strengthen the Union's position, in addition to addressing the moral issue of slavery. The Emancipation Proclamation was issued on January 1, 1863, and it marked a significant step toward the abolition of slavery in the United States.

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