Posted on 03/05/2008 11:23:56 AM PST by Sub-Driver
Letters Suggest Lincoln Wanted to Buy Slaves for $400 Apiece in 'Gradual Emancipation'
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
AP
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Barely a year into the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln suggested buying slaves for $400 apiece under a "gradual emancipation" plan that would bring peace at less cost than several months of hostilities.
The proposal was outlined in one of 72 letters penned by Lincoln that ended up in the University of Rochester's archives. The correspondence was digitally scanned and posted online along with easier-to-read transcriptions.
Accompanying them are 215 letters sent to Lincoln by dozens of fellow political and military leaders. They include letters from Vice President Andrew Johnson and Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, who both succeeded Lincoln in the presidency in the 12 years after his assassination in 1865.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
And a good strategy it proved to be. States rights over slavery was a foolish issue to make a stand. Making the issue clear to the Brits kept them from selling out principles for King Cotton.
Early in the war Lincoln tried a number of methods of ending it, with the intention of preserving the Union. This was his first, and ultimate aim. Allowing the South to secede was never an option to Lincoln. It became obvious, however, that the Confederate States were not interested in any outcome that didn't recognize their existence. With that in mind, Lincoln fought the war to preserve the Union, and, secondly, emancipation. Gravitation to Grant and Sherman only shows his realization of what it would take to win.
Can't cite a source, but I vaguely recall reading somewhere that when the South seceded, Lincoln's plan was to adopt a "wait and see" approach but the attack on Ft. Sumter forced his hand.
‘Little Mac’ was popular with the Army of the Potomac, but not the military as a whole. And when the 1864 election occurred, it was obvious that Lincoln, Grant, Sherman, et al, were in it to win. Even though Grant was entrenched at Petersburg, many in the North accepted it as merely a matter of time before the South was defeated.
And, yes, the Democrats, like today, were a party of compromise. I don’t believe the American public of that day, even with the carnage, was willing to trade 4 years of war for an easy peace.
Zachy, you have it right about Lincoln and the beginning of the war. BTW, I too live in Illinois, but don’t see many bumper stickers like the ones you do. Do you live in the southern part of the state?
Keep in mind that no one believed the war would last long. Those in the North believed that the Confederacy would be slim pickin’s. The South believed the North would acquiesce and allow them to form. Both, obviously, were wrong.
Perhaps not. Congress needed a vehicle for granting privileges and immunities as it could not grant or bestow rights on the freed slaves. The P and I served the same purpose without having to re-write the Constitution.
So true. There are many comparisons between today and that situation. Unfortunately, our education system has prevented many today of understanding how the Democrat party of today is little different that it was then.
They’d just blow it on hookers and lottery tickets and come back demanding more.
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Yours is the kind of post our friends over at DU love to trot out to show the kind of character freepers possess. Good work.
Not every thought need be expressed.
If only we could have had corps of lawyers standing by! "Now, you reallize by signing this and accepting freedom, and since we have paid $400 to free you, you are giving up all future rights to wring your hands, pout, whine, wail, and complain about how you are being Opressed by The Man and will have to simply go out and be judged on the contents of your heart? Sign right here."
Porgie! Porgie Tirebiter!
It wasn't as much a 'wait-and-see' approach as it was the intent to restore the Union, by non-violent means if possible. Lincoln's sole intent was to preserve the Union. To some this may seem nuanced, but it really wasn't. He had no intention of allowing the Confederacy to succeed in destroying the Union.
He’s a spy and a girl de-lighter!
Have you heard "Give me Immortality", or any of the later Firesign? I saw them on a PBS special last year performing an albumn. Those guys never stop!
One of them, Proctor, I think, was also on some NOVA special or some such, at a national mystery writer's event where they did a radio show modeled on one of the books. What a hoot, these guys really miss radio!
I was VERY pleasantly surprised when “Give Me Immortality” came out in ‘99 — I think it’s one of their best.
Paying the owners worked for England when they freed their slaves and when Russia freed the serfs.
Of course they didn’t kill hundreds of thousands in a war. But Americans did because too many thought it was immoral to pay a slave owner for his property.
Then you would justify that it was the owners right to consider another human 'his property'. It worked for England only so much as it shifted the slave trade more to other countries. We had already been fighting the moral battle for years to no avail.
I live in southern Cook County and drive around the Chicago area for my job. I don’t see the confederate flags all too often, but when I do they usually seem to be on pickups. I suspect the reason for it in some part is racial. I’m not saying its necessarily racial to show the confederate flag in Georgia, but in Illinois I don’t see how it isn’t to some extant. Closed minds in that way really tee me off. America has so far been a wonderfully successful experiment imho. We aren’t like the Chinese with thousands of years of history and culture. Yet we have something that I believe is very powerful in its own way. That is shared ideals. I was recently watching comedy central’s latin kings of comdedy special. This mexican-american is making jokes about his vacation to France. One joke was like ‘hey we keep having to save you guys’ That guy identifies himself as an American and from the sound of his accent he was probably born in Mexico. Nonetheless he didn’t like the French attitude towards Americans. Another recent experience I had was watching a Chinese theater performance. More than half of the audience was Chinese and they were speaking it. The performance was done by a Chinese troupe (sp?) touring America. It was a cultural exchange thing really and they were doing different chinese songs and dances. But they strayed from that pattern twice and sang “oh susanna” and “yanke doodle.” I was pleasantly surprised that those two songs were heavily cheered and had the Chinese singing/humming along. I know very little of the Chinese community and before this would have assumed they wouldn’t even know those two songs. But being American obviously means something to them too.
If you’ve ever met holocaust survivors that came to America in the 50s you’d see that they identify themselves as Americans first. Jews second. And on and on this pattern goes for other immigrant groups. I meet tons of immigrants in my job and some don’t seem to care for this country, but that is the exception in my personal experience. Most are here to be free and reap the benefits of their labor. They seem grateful. I often see the certificate of citizenship proudly framed on the wall.
My comment about the confederate flag I suppose is part of a larger issue about racial supremacy that stems from the roots of slavery. I just wish there would be more vocal opposition to backwards thinking. Immigrants and blacks have always been in our armed forces from the days of George Washington onward. Instead of focusing on how we are different, I wish we would concentrate on what makes us similar. Of course that leads to another topic, on how society/govt keeps things focused on our differences. But I am straying enough from the original topic already. I just notice that sometimes these feelings are posted a bit too frequently for my comfort level and hence why I felt the urge to respond at all to this thread.
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