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Loading... Freedom National: The Destruction of Slavery in the United States, 1861-1865by James Oakes
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. Comprehensive and cogent. This book convincingly argues that the complete destruction of slavery was high on the minds of radical Republicans and Lincoln. Abolition was not the purpose of the war, but slavery was decidedly its cause. Restoration of the Union through suppression of rebellion would inevitably result in freeing slaves. The author clarifies that slavery was constitutionally legitimate as a matter of states' rights, but not outside the states where such "positive laws" existed. In short, slavery was local, but freedom was national. Military emancipation and the Emancipation Proclamation were lawful means to free slaves under the laws of war, but after the cessation of conflict the military justification would cease and the complete abolition of slavery after the end of conflict depended on a constitutional amendment, the thirteenth. ( ) no reviews | add a review
Traces the history of emancipation and its impact on the Civil War, discussing how Lincoln and the Republicans fought primarily for freeing slaves throughout the war, not just as a secondary objective in an effort to restore the country. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)973.7History and Geography North America United States Administration of Abraham Lincoln, 1861-1865 Civil WarLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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