AMERICA
: THE LAST BEST HOPE
CHAPTER 9
Freedom’s Fiery Trial
(1860-1863)
Presidential Terms
James Buchanan
1857-1861
Abraham Lincoln
1861-1865
STUDENT
After years of discussing secession as a theory, Lincoln’s election in 1860 led
the South to begin making the dissolution of the Union a reality. South
Carolina led the way by seceding in December of 1860, with six other states
in the Deep South following suit by the time of Lincoln’s inauguration in
March of 1861. Lincoln was actually a moderate on the issue of slavery,
assuring the South that he would not interfere with the institution where
it existed and would enforce the Fugitive Slave Act. This is in contrast to
the more radical abolitionists of the North. He believed it was his duty as
Chief Executive to execute the nation’s laws – even those he personally found
offensive.
The military phase of the conflict began at Fort Sumter, and Lincoln’s
resolute, though failed, effort to keep that fort in federal hands led the final
four states of the Upper South to secede. The war had begun. Americans
had fought together for liberty in the Revolution, but now they fought each
other over the meaning of liberty.
As the war began, Lincoln was desperate for the Union to hold the slave
states bordering the North. His actions in Maryland, particularly the
suspension of habeas corpus, are still debated by scholars today. Lincoln
certainly focused on the big issue – his sworn duty to preserve the Union
(and not let the South “depart in peace” as Horace Greeley recommended).
This even meant countermanding Frémont’s order to emancipate slaves
in Missouri. Lincoln could not afford to alienate slaveholders there who
remained loyal.
The Trent Affair highlights key foreign policy issues that took place during
the war. The North’s “Anaconda Policy” attempted to cut off trade between
the South and Europe, thus starving the rebellion. This especially risked
alienating England, a key trading partner of the South. Throughout the
war, the South hoped for diplomatic recognition and aid from England, and
assumed that England’s need for “King Cotton” in their textile mills would
bring such recognition. The Trent Affair brought England close to war with
the North, but in the end, the South greatly miscalculated in anticipating
English support. Key Union victories (such as Antietam), Lincoln’s
diplomacy, and the English hatred of slavery kept them out of the war.
The first two years of the war saw the debate in the North between advocates
AMERICA
: THE LAST BEST HOPE
“I decided that slavery must die
that the nation might live.”
-Abraham Lincoln
STUDENT
of a “hard war” (Republicans in Congress) who favored punishing the South
and freeing the slaves and key generals (such as McClellan) who favored a
“soft war” approach and opposed an “abolition war.” From the humiliating
loss at the First Battle of Bull Run, Lincoln struggled to find a general who
would aggressively put down the South’s rebellion.
This chapter details military clashes such as Antietam, Fredericksburg,
Chancellorsville, and Shiloh. The numbers killed and wounded were
staggering in comparison to previous conflicts and family members often
split and appeared on opposite sides of the battlefield.
As the war wore on, Lincoln evolved toward becoming the “Great
Emancipator.” He initially advocated gradual, compensated emancipation
in the Border States and then supported “colonization.” Frederick Douglass
adamantly opposed such plans. Eventually, Lincoln would come to the
conclusion that Douglass was right.
In the midst of this debate, Lincoln wrote his famous letter to editor Horace
Greeley, making it clear that his sole object was to save the Union, not to
end slavery. Only if such an action helped save the Union would he pursue
it. But after the North survived Antietam, Lincoln stated “I decided that
slavery must die that the nation might live.” After such bloodshed, only the
liberation of slaves could justify the nation’s suffering.
When the Emancipation Proclamation was issued in its preliminary form
in 1862, it was not popular in the North. Then when issued officially on
January 1, 1863, no slaves were actually immediately freed. Lincoln had to
carefully act in a constitutional manner. He could only free slaves as a war
measure (note the words “military necessity” in the document), and thus
could not free slaves in the Border States still loyal or even in Southern states
then under Union control. But it did give the war a dramatic new purpose,
as the Union army became an army of liberation. It also swung key nations
such as England and France toward the Union side.
Of course Jefferson Davis and the Confederacy reacted to Lincoln’s action
with horror. In fact, part of the “military necessity” of Lincoln’s action was
the hope that slaves in the South might be inspired to leave their plantations
and free themselves, thus causing chaos and labor shortages. This indeed
happened. Southerners were further terrified that the proclamation would
lead to bloody slave revolts – their fear for generations. This did not occur.
The chapter ends with the North beginning to put blacks in uniform,
a dramatic step many had thought impossible early in the war. As this
AMERICA
: THE LAST BEST HOPE
STUDENT
was taking place, General Robert E. Lee moved his Confederate army
northward. The war was moving toward a critical moment and the future of
the Union hung in the balance.