Almost as soon as Lincoln took office, abolitionists and radical Republicans began pressuring the president to issue an emancipation proclamation. Lincoln hesitated for fear of jeopardizing the fragile Union coalition that included slave-owning, border states. Nearly two years after taking the oath of office, on January 1, 1863, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation that declared that all slaves within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free."

President Lincoln issued the first printing of the preliminary version of the Emancipation Proclamation as an order from the commander-in-chief to the armed forces. Because the president had direct control over the army, it was unnecessary to go through Congress to activate the proclamation. The preliminary version differs from his final version of January 1, 1863, by placing a greater emphasis on the preservation of the Union as the motivating force behind the proclamation.

Although it did not immediately free any slaves, the proclamation transformed the character of the war by tying emancipation directly to military victory. This crucially important document marked the expansion of Northern war aims to include emancipation along with preservation of the Union, thus altering the nature of the war. Lincoln considered the document his greatest achievement.

Lincoln's initial venture into politics resulted in a loss running for the Illinois legislature. He ran successfully in 1834, 1836, 1838 and 1840. In his spare time, he had studied for the law and became a lawyer in 1836. He married Mary Todd in 1842 and they had a family of four children. In 1846, Lincoln ran for United States House of Representatives and won, returning home after his term to focus on his law practice.

Lincoln was politically ambitious and his pull back into public life was energized by his opposition to the 1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act. This act would allow individual states and territories to decide for themselves if they wanted to have slavery. Lincoln spoke out about his views to a crowd in Peoria, Illinois, on October 16, 1854 and he set out his moral, political and economic arguments against slavery that he would continue to uphold throughout his career. The Dred-Scott decision of 1856 ruled that slaves were not legal persons and could never be citizens of the United States. He returned to politics as it became clear to him that the country was at risk for dividing over slavery.

One of the most critical figures in American history, Lincoln was a man with several business and political failures who had only two years of national and eight years of state legislation experience. He had no successful military experience, no formal education, and suffered from depression and melancholy all his life. With all his deficiencies, he is the man we think of who defined the role of the president as we understand it today, the commander-in-chief.

Mastering materials : A print

Published : 1864

Creator : Not attributed

Housed in the Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress

Availability: Special Order: ships in 3-4 weeks

Product #: pga02040