150 Years Ago Today
At the White House, having gathered the Cabinet in his office, President Lincoln took two sheets of paper from his pocket, adjusted his glasses, and read aloud his draft proclamation. It set New Year's Day 1863 as a deadline, after which all slaves in states still in rebellion would be declared free, "thenceforward, and forever". Lincoln proposed to use his authority as Commander in Chief during a time of war, thus bypassing the protection given slavery in the Constitution. For this reason, those slaves in the border states still in the Union would not be freed. But for three and a half million people, their freedom would come as soon as they could escape, or Union troops occupied wherever they happened to be. Since the great majority of the South's wealth was in slaves and the land they farmed, this meant tearing the Southern economy up by the roots.
The Cabinet listened in silence until the President was finished. Then, they spoke in favor or against. Secretary of War Stanton and Attorney General Bates were in favor of enacting the proposal immediately. Secretary of the Navy Welles and Secretary of the Interior Caleb Smith kept silent, daunted by the magnitude of the proposal. Postmaster Blair gave a vigorous dissent, and asked to file his objections in writing. Surprisingly, Secretary of the Treasury Chase, who was a staunch abolitionist, argued that it was "a measure of great danger" and might lead to "depredation and massacre on the one hand, and support to the insurrection on the other." Nonetheless, he was willing to support it if the alternative was doing nothing.
Lastly, Secretary of State Seward gave his opinion. He worried that the proclamation would lead to racial war in the South, and give Britain and France grounds for intervening. However, he was now steadfast in loyalty to Lincoln, and would approve -- except for the timing. "The depression of the public mind, consequent on our repeated reverses, is so great that I fear . . . it may be viewed as the last measure of an exhausted government, a cry for help . . . our last shriek, on the retreat." It would have far more effect if Lincoln waited "until the eagle of victory takes his flight."
As Lincoln would later say, "The wisdom of the view of the Secretary of State struck me with very great force. It was an aspect of the case that, in all my thought upon the subject, I had entirely overlooked. The result was that I put the draft of the proclamation aside . . . waiting for a victory."
But matters would get much worse for the Union before they got better.
The Cabinet listened in silence until the President was finished. Then, they spoke in favor or against. Secretary of War Stanton and Attorney General Bates were in favor of enacting the proposal immediately. Secretary of the Navy Welles and Secretary of the Interior Caleb Smith kept silent, daunted by the magnitude of the proposal. Postmaster Blair gave a vigorous dissent, and asked to file his objections in writing. Surprisingly, Secretary of the Treasury Chase, who was a staunch abolitionist, argued that it was "a measure of great danger" and might lead to "depredation and massacre on the one hand, and support to the insurrection on the other." Nonetheless, he was willing to support it if the alternative was doing nothing.
Lastly, Secretary of State Seward gave his opinion. He worried that the proclamation would lead to racial war in the South, and give Britain and France grounds for intervening. However, he was now steadfast in loyalty to Lincoln, and would approve -- except for the timing. "The depression of the public mind, consequent on our repeated reverses, is so great that I fear . . . it may be viewed as the last measure of an exhausted government, a cry for help . . . our last shriek, on the retreat." It would have far more effect if Lincoln waited "until the eagle of victory takes his flight."
As Lincoln would later say, "The wisdom of the view of the Secretary of State struck me with very great force. It was an aspect of the case that, in all my thought upon the subject, I had entirely overlooked. The result was that I put the draft of the proclamation aside . . . waiting for a victory."
But matters would get much worse for the Union before they got better.