Emancipation, the Union Army, and the Reelection of Abraham Lincoln

Emancipation, the Union Army, and the Reelection of Abraham Lincoln PDF

Author: Jonathan W. White

Publisher: LSU Press

Published: 2014-06-09

Total Pages: 294

ISBN-13: 080715458X

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The Union army's overwhelming vote for Abraham Lincoln's reelection in 1864 has led many Civil War scholars to conclude that the soldiers supported the Republican Party and its effort to abolish slavery. In Emancipation, the Union Army, and the Reelection of Abraham Lincoln Jonathan W. White challenges this reigning paradigm in Civil War historiography, arguing instead that the soldier vote in the presidential election of 1864 is not a reliable index of the army's ideological motivation or political sentiment. Although 78 percent of the soldiers' votes were cast for Lincoln, White contends that this was not wholly due to a political or social conversion to the Republican Party. Rather, he argues, historians have ignored mitigating factors such as voter turnout, intimidation at the polls, and how soldiers voted in nonpresidential elections in 1864. While recognizing that many soldiers changed their views on slavery and emancipation during the war, White suggests that a considerable number still rejected the Republican platform, and that many who voted for Lincoln disagreed with his views on slavery. He likewise explains that many northerners considered a vote for the Democratic ticket as treasonous and an admission of defeat. Using previously untapped court-martial records from the National Archives, as well as manuscript collections from across the country, White convincingly revises many commonly held assumptions about the Civil War era and provides a deeper understanding of the Union Army.

Abraham Lincoln's Path to Reelection in 1864

Abraham Lincoln's Path to Reelection in 1864 PDF

Author: Fred J. Martin Jr.

Publisher: AuthorHouse

Published: 2013-12-20

Total Pages: 532

ISBN-13: 149183529X

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PRAISE FOR ABRAHAM LINCOLNS PATH TO REELECTION IN 1864 OUR GREATEST VICTORY Political polls consistently record a substantial lack of confidence in national political leaders of both major parties and a disturbing sentiment that the United States is on the wrong track in current policy developments.. These sentiments lead to unfortunate summaries of alleged failures of our democratic institutions and proposals.. Fortunately, at this moment in our history, Fred J. Martin Jr. has stepped forward with a comprehensive analysis of politics in 1860s and most importantly, the political genius Abraham Lincoln as he led our country through a series of perilous crises into new paths of confidence and greatness. I admire, especially, Fred Martin's mastery of political detail and the large variety of motivations, strategies, and actions of a wide assortment of political players. -Former Senator Richard Lugar Arguably the most consequential election in American history, the presidential contest of 1864 has cried out for a more sophisticated analysis than it has heretofore received. Fortunately, Fred Martins background in political journalism and in banking has enabled him to provide such an analysis in this book, which is a welcome addition to the Lincoln literature. --Michael Burlingame, Author, Abraham Lincoln: A Life; Distinguished Chair in Lincoln Studies, History Department, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences University of Illinois, Springfield IL Fred Martin has written an illuminating account of the roots of Lincolns success as president, culminating in his victory in the critical election of 1864. Effectively using Lincolns words as well as those of his contemporaries, Martin demonstrates how it became possible for Lincoln to overcome his early background and become a skillful and ethical political leader who saved the Union and ended slavery. The book clearly is a labor of love for Martin, a long-time student of Abraham Lincoln. Every person interested in Lincoln and his presidency should have this well researched and well-written book in his/her library. -- William C. Harris, author of Lincoln and the Border States: Preserving the Union (2011) and Lincoln and the Union Governors (2013)

Abraham Lincoln and the Road to Emancipation, 1861-1865

Abraham Lincoln and the Road to Emancipation, 1861-1865 PDF

Author: William K. Klingaman

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2001-03-19

Total Pages: 410

ISBN-13: 1101218703

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In this comprehensive account of Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, William K. Klingaman takes a fresh look at what is arguably the most controversial reform in American history. Taking the reader from Lincoln's inauguration through the Civil War to his tragic assassination, it uncovers the complex political and psychological pressures facing Lincoln in his consideration of the slavery question, including his decision to issue the proclamation without consulting any member of his cabinet, and his meticulous attention to every word of the document. The book concludes with a discussion of what the Emancipation Proclamation really meant to four million newly freed blacks and its subsequent impact on race relations in America.

Lincoln and the U.S. Colored Troops

Lincoln and the U.S. Colored Troops PDF

Author: John David Smith

Publisher: SIU Press

Published: 2013-11-04

Total Pages: 171

ISBN-13: 0809332914

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When Abraham Lincoln issued his final Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, he not only freed the slaves in the Confederate states but also invited freed slaves and free persons of color to join the U.S. Army as part of the U.S. Colored Troops (USCT), the first systematic, large-scale effort by the U.S. government to arm African Americans to aid in the nation’s defense. By the end of the war in 1865, nearly 180,000 black soldiers had fought for the Union. Lincoln’s role in the arming of African Americans remains a central but unfortunately obscure part of one of the most compelling periods in American history. In Lincoln and the U.S. Colored Troops John David Smith offers a concise, enlightening exploration of the development of Lincoln’s military emancipation project, its implementation, and the recruitment and deployment of black troops. Though scholars have written much on emancipation and the USCT, Smith’s work frames the evolution of Lincoln’s ideas on emancipation and arming blacks within congressional actions, explaining how, when, and why the president seemed to be so halting in his progression to military emancipation. After tracing Lincoln’s evolution from opposing to supporting emancipation as a necessary war measure and to championing the recruitment of black troops for the Union Army, Smith details the creation, mobilization, and diverse military service of the USCT. He assesses the hardships under which the men of the USCT served, including the multiple forms of discrimination from so-called friends and foes alike, and examines the broad meaning of Lincoln’s military emancipation project and its place in African American historical memory.

Lincoln and Freedom

Lincoln and Freedom PDF

Author: Harold Holzer

Publisher: SIU Press

Published: 2007-08-27

Total Pages: 282

ISBN-13: 0809387530

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Lincoln’s reelection in 1864 was a pivotal moment in the history of the United States. The Emancipation Proclamation had officially gone into effect on January 1, 1863, and the proposed Thirteenth Amendment had become a campaign issue. Lincoln and Freedom: Slavery, Emancipation, and the Thirteenth Amendment captures these historic times, profiling the individuals, events, and enactments that led to slavery’s abolition. Fifteen leading Lincoln scholars contribute to this collection, covering slavery from its roots in 1619 Jamestown, through the adoption of the Constitution, to Abraham Lincoln’s presidency. This comprehensive volume, edited by Harold Holzer and Sara Vaughn Gabbard, presents Abraham Lincoln’s response to the issue of slavery as politician, president, writer, orator, and commander-in-chief. Topics include the history of slavery in North America, the Supreme Court’s Dred Scott decision, the evolution of Lincoln’s view of presidential powers, the influence of religion on Lincoln, and the effects of the Emancipation Proclamation. This collection effectively explores slavery as a Constitutional issue, both from the viewpoint of the original intent of the nation’s founders as they failed to deal with slavery, and as a study of the Constitutional authority of the commander-in-chief as Lincoln interpreted it. Addressed are the timing of Lincoln’s decision for emancipation and its effect on the public, the military, and the slaves themselves. Other topics covered include the role of the U.S. Colored Troops, the election campaign of 1864, and the legislative debate over the Thirteenth Amendment. The volume concludes with a heavily illustrated essay on the role that iconography played in forming and informing public opinion about emancipation and the amendments that officially granted freedom and civil rights to African Americans. Lincoln and Freedom provides a comprehensive political history of slavery in America and offers a rare look at how Lincoln’s views, statements, and actions played a vital role in the story of emancipation.

Lincoln’s Hundred Days

Lincoln’s Hundred Days PDF

Author: Louis P. Masur

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2012-09-22

Total Pages: 385

ISBN-13: 0674067533

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"The time has come now," Abraham Lincoln told his cabinet as he presented the preliminary draft of a "Proclamation of Emancipation." Lincoln's effort to end slavery has been controversial from its inception-when it was denounced by some as an unconstitutional usurpation and by others as an inadequate half-measure-up to the present, as historians have discounted its import and impact. At the sesquicentennial of the Emancipation Proclamation, Louis Masur seeks to restore the document's reputation by exploring its evolution. Lincoln's Hundred Days is the first book to tell the full story of the critical period between September 22, 1862, when Lincoln issued his preliminary Proclamation, and January 1, 1863, when he signed the final, significantly altered, decree. In those tumultuous hundred days, as battlefield deaths mounted, debate raged. Masur commands vast primary sources to portray the daily struggles and enormous consequences of the president's efforts as Lincoln led a nation through war and toward emancipation. With his deadline looming, Lincoln hesitated and calculated, frustrating friends and foes alike, as he reckoned with the anxieties and expectations of millions. We hear these concerns, from poets, cabinet members and foreign officials, from enlisted men on the front and free blacks as well as slaves. Masur presents a fresh portrait of Lincoln as a complex figure who worried about, listened to, debated, prayed for, and even joked with his country, and then followed his conviction in directing America toward a terrifying and thrilling unknown.

Antietam 1862

Antietam 1862 PDF

Author: T. Stephen Whitman

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2012-07-19

Total Pages: 204

ISBN-13:

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This book explains how the Battle of Antietam—a conflict that changed nothing militarily—still played a pivotal role in the Civil War by affording Abraham Lincoln an opportunity to announce the emancipation of slaves in states in rebellion. Antietam 1862: Gateway to Emancipation examines the connections between the Maryland Campaign culminating in the battle of Antietam in 1862 and the drive to emancipate slaves to win the war for the Union. The work's thematic chapters discuss how slaves' resistance to the Confederacy and flight to Union armies influenced Union domestic and diplomatic politics, Confederate military strategy, and above all, the leadership of President Lincoln. By focusing on the complex topics of antislavery politics, diplomacy, and slaves' resistance rather than the specific occurrences on the battlefield, this book shows how shrewd Abraham Lincoln was in assessing the consequences of fighting a civil war about slavery. The concept that slaves' resistance played a part in Lee and Davis's decision to cross the Potomac and invade Maryland is explored, as is the idea that this strategy delayed and ultimately dashed all of the Confederacy's hopes of help from the British.

The Emancipation Proclamation

The Emancipation Proclamation PDF

Author: Ann Heinrichs

Publisher: Capstone

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 56

ISBN-13: 9780756502096

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Looks at the political and moral issues that caused President Lincoln to issue the 1863 document that freed many slaves, and at the immediate and long-term consequences of his action.

Abraham Lincoln and His Times

Abraham Lincoln and His Times PDF

Author: Thomas J. Ebert

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2023-08-03

Total Pages: 462

ISBN-13: 1476646392

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Lincoln's significance in the history of slavery and emancipation, the Union's preservation and the formation of a new national vision is crucial to comprehending the antebellum and Civil War periods in American history. This is a one-of-a-kind hybrid reference work that combines chronology with almost 400 primary source papers to contextualize Lincoln's life within his historical era. These written materials serve as the foundation upon which historians can construct a picture of Lincoln's America. In addition to important chronology and documents, this work includes introductory essays that summarize the topics of each chapter, brief biographies of those referenced in the book, and a source bibliography. Historical records are the heart of this work. Documents illustrate different viewpoints, to provide a full grasp of the time and place, as well as Lincoln's significance during this era.

Lincoln

Lincoln PDF

Author: Harold Holzer

Publisher: Harper Collins

Published: 2012-12-11

Total Pages: 174

ISBN-13: 0062265121

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A new book—and companion to the Steven Spielberg film—tracing how Abraham Lincoln came to view slavery . . . and came to end it. Steven Spielberg focused his movie Lincoln on the sixteenth president's tumultuous final months in office, when he pursued a course of action to end the Civil War, reunite the country, and abolish slavery. Invited by the filmmakers to write a special Lincoln book as a companion to the film, Harold Holzer, the distinguished historian and a consultant on the movie, now gives us a fast-paced, exciting new book on Lincoln's life and times, his evolving beliefs about slavery, and how he maneuvered to end it. The story starts on January 31, 1865—less than three months before Lincoln's assassination—as the president anxiously awaits word on whether Congress will finally vote to pass the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution. Although the Emancipation Proclamation two years earlier had authorized the army to liberate slaves in Confederate territory, only a Constitutional amendment passed by Congress and ratified by three-fourths of the states would end slavery legally everywhere in the country. Drawing from letters, speeches, memoirs, and documents by Lincoln and others, Holzer goes on to cover Lincoln's boyhood, his moves from Kentucky to Indiana to Illinois, his work as a lawyer and congressman, his unsuccessful candidacies for the U.S. Senate and his victory in two presidential elections, his arduous duties in the Civil War as commander in chief, his actions as president, and his relationships with his family, political rivals, and associates. Holzer provides a fresh view of America in those turbulent times, as well as fascinating insights into the challenges Lincoln faced as he weighed his personal beliefs against his presidential duties in relation to the slavery issue. The passage of the Thirteenth Amendment would become the crowning achievement of Abraham Lincoln's life and the undisputed testament to his political genius. By viewing his life through this prism, Holzer makes an important passage in American history come alive for readers of all ages. The book also includes thirty historical photographs, a chronology, a historical cast of characters, texts of selected Lincoln writings, a bibliography, and notes.