Posted on 01/25/2007 8:04:52 PM PST by stainlessbanner
Hmmmm. I just hope this doesn't give the South a bad name.
Happy 200th Birthday to one of our greatest!
If only our school children could be taught his virtues!
I see you've managed to piss off the Moe, Curley, and Larry of the Southron Cause.
How many do they have named after Lee and Jackson?
Actually he was a slave owner at various times during his adult life. And his opposition to slavery might best be described as tepid.
Actually according to the laws of Virginia at the time, any slave who was freed had 12 months in which to leave the commonwealth or else they could be sold back into slavery.
Look at the timing of his emancipation proclamation - just when Lee had invaded Pennsylvania and Lincoln was losing support for the war.
Lincoln presented his first draft of the Emancipation Proclamation to his cabinet in the summer of 1862, shortly after Second Bull Run. He was advised to wait until after a Union victory before issuing it otherwise it would appear an act of desperation. He did so, and issued it on September 22, 1862, 5 days after the Union victory at Antietam and 9 months before Lee's campaign in Pennsylvania.
Still was a political ploy.
No, it was a war measure meant to weaken the confederate effort. Since he declared the slaves to be free then the fugitive slave laws didn't apply and they didn't have to be returned to their owners if demanded. And it worked, too.
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