Lincoln and the Politics of Slavery The Other Thirteenth Amendment and the Struggle to Save the Union / Daniel W. Crofts.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Crofts, Daniel W., author.

Series:

Civil War America (Series)

Civil War America

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Slavery--Law and legislation--United States--History.

Slavery.

United States. Constitution--13th Amendment--History.

United States.

Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865--Political and social views.

Physical Description:

1 online resource : illustrations (black and white).

Edition:

1st ed.

Manufacture:

Baltimore, Md. : Project MUSE, 2016

Place of Publication:

Baltimore, Maryland : Project Muse, 2016

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In this landmark book, Daniel Crofts examines a little-known episode in the most celebrated aspect of Abraham Lincoln's life: his role as the "Great Emancipator." Lincoln always hated slavery, but he also believed it to be legal where it already existed, and he never imagined fighting a war to end it. In 1861, as part of a last-ditch effort to preserve the Union and prevent war, the new president even offered to accept a constitutional amendment that barred Congress from interfering with slavery in the slave states. Lincoln made this key overture in his first inaugural address. Crofts unearths the hidden history and political maneuvering behind the stillborn attempt to enact this amendment, the polar opposite of the actual Thirteenth Amendment of 1865 that ended slavery. This compelling book sheds light on an overlooked element of Lincoln's statecraft and presents a relentlessly honest portrayal of America's most admired president. Crofts rejects the view advanced by some Lincoln scholars that the wartime momentum toward emancipation originated well before the first shots were fired. Lincoln did indeed become the "Great Emancipator," but he had no such intention when he first took office. Only amid the crucible of combat did the war to save the Union become a war for freedom.

Contents:

Prologue. The bread pill

part I. The Antebellum context

1. The abolition movement and the problem of the Constitution

2. Antislavery politics and the problem of the Constitution

3. The Republican Party, Abraham Lincoln, and the problem of the Constitution

part II. Origins of the other Thirteenth Amendment

4. Mutual misconceptions

5. The Seward amendment

6. The Corwin amendment

part III. Debating the other Thirteenth Amendment

7. Reaching across the abyss

8. The unfazed and the alarmed

9. The amendment assessed

part IV. The abortive launch

10. Congress acts

11. The president speaks

12. The ratification fizzle

Epilogue one. James M. Ashley and the Thirteenth Amendment

Epilogue two. John A. Bingham and the Fourteenth Amendment.

Notes:

Includes index.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9798890850263

9781469627328

1469627329

9781469627335

1469627337

OCLC:

939598134