1. Crittenden Resolution
Passed by Congress July of 1861
War is being fought to preserve the Union, not to end slavery.
Lincoln had stated as much in his First Inauguration Speech

2. First Confiscation Act-1862
Any property being used to aid the Rebellion can be seized.
Example: slaves growing crops helps the Rebellion
Loophole: quit fighting and the South can keep its slaves.

3. Second Confiscation Act-1862
All rebel property, regardless of its use, can be seized.
Loophole: quit fighting and keep the slaves.

4. Steps Toward Emancipation
March 1862-slaves who escape to Union lines will not be returned to owners.
April 1862-compensated emancipation $$$$ goes into effect for Washington DC.
June 1862-Territories are emancipated without compensation

5. Political consideration against Emancipation
Did not want to offend the border states
a. Missouri, Kentucky, Delaware, Maryland
2. Offend the racist element in the North
a. Did not want freed slaves to take their jobs

6. “I would do it if I were not afraid that half the officers would fling down their arms and three more States would rise. “ Lincoln-summer Horace Greeley Owner and editor of New York Tribune Editorial-”Prayer of 20 Million” urging immediate emancipation.

7. Lincoln’s Response
“My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and it is not either to save or destroy slavery.”
Free none, free all, or free some and leave others enslaved.
This response reflected Lincoln’s official view, not as he stated his personal view of slavery.

8. What Lincoln needs, in 1862, is a victory in the Eastern Theater of the war to help the North see the connection between ending the war and ending slavery.
What victory leads to emancipation?
Antietam

9. Emancipation Proclamation
Issued September 22, 1862-five days after Antietam
All persons engaged in Rebellion as of January 1, 1863 will have their slaves freed. This justified emancipation for military reasons.
Loophole: if the South quits, they can keep their slaves.