"And by virtue of the power, and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free...."

Like most things in life, it was far more complicated, but today marks the date in which Abraham Lincoln helped to set slavery on the course to extinction in America.

Best
Rob

Francis B. Carpenter took the view of today's event as being "the seminal moment" when he decided to immortalize the "First Reading" with his iconic painting. Though Lincoln had promised Sen. Sumner in December 1861 that he would take a "swing" at slavery, it took him most of the year to get in postion to be able to make a proclamation stick. Even Lincoln was surprised that people like Carpenter would make such a fuss over the reading of the draft. I have had a lot of fun this year talking in several forums about the run-up to the January 1, 1863 Proclamation, under the theme of "the Emancipation Year." The next one will be for the DC Historical Society on October 19. The strategy of emancipation was woven through Lincoln's artful coordination of policies regarding compensated emancipation to assuage the border states, colonization to calm the pro-war democrats, and expanding the definition of "contrabands" to show how the Confederate war effort could be undermined. It was very complicated, and not at all certain that it could be done without jeopardizing the war for Union. But give credit where it is due. The "war purpose theory" that made it all possible was conceived by Gen. Ben Butler at Fort Monroe on May 23, 1861, when he refused to return three escaped slaves who had been "leased" by their master to the Confederate army. Butler declared that this military use of leased "property" made the men contrabands of war, thus nullifying his Constitutional duty to return them under the Fugitive Slave Act. Lincoln took it from there.
This is my first post and I am delighted to be a part of your discussion forum.
John O'Brien

Welcome to the forum, John.

John is an expert at researching sites in Washington related to Lincoln's presidency and the Civil War. Using a variety of primary sources John has published a wonderful map of Lincoln's Washington.

For information please go here and here.

The map has been approved by the NPS for sale at Ford's Theatre. I have been using John's map to answer questions I have received from students that pertain to Civil War Washington. The map is a truly wonderful resource when it comes to the many historical sites 1861-1865. It gives clarity to a topic I used to find quite confusing when trying to picture in my mind where everything was. As a result of the map I can visualize Lafayette Square like I never could before.

What other President, I ask, would garner such attention? Bill Clinton, it seems, remains popular-but does anyone care to know what places he frequented while in Washington?

(09-23-2012 05:05 AM)LincolnMan Wrote:  What other President, I ask, would garner such attention? Bill Clinton, it seems, remains popular-but does anyone care to know what places he frequented while in Washington?

Bill,

We may not want to know

Craig

If Monica Lewinsky is really writing a book, we may find out even if we don't want to know!

Heaven help us! Well, he was "just one of the good ole' boys, ya know."