Lincoln's loss in 1864

[David Lockmiller]

(06-18-2019 09:03 AM)L Verge Wrote:  If the South were emptied of its hundreds of thousands of slaves, would the Union forces and the general economy have been able to support their influx and settlement? The contraband villages that sprung up were certainly no vacation destination, and those in the camps were put to work providing food for the military - much like their fate had been in the South. Personally, I think the slavery to freedom issue at that time was a no-win situation that we continue to feel the aftereffects of 155 years later.

The same night as his discussion with Douglass, Lincoln met with Governor Randall of Connecticut and Joseph Mills. Lincoln pointed out that there were "between 1 & 200 thousand black men now in the service of the Union." If the promise of freedom were rescinded, these men would rightly give up their arms. "Abandon all the posts now possessed by black men, surrender all these advantages to the enemy, & we would be compelled to abandon the war in 3 weeks." (Source: Team of Rivals at page 651.)

If Lincoln was correct in this assessment, consider what would be the immediate impact upon the South's domestic and military infrastructures by the loss of hundreds of thousands of black slaves in a short period of time. Douglass promised to confer with leaders in the black community on the possibility of such a plan. (Source: Lincoln Papers, August 29, 1864.)

Doris Kearns Goodwin wrote: "In the third week of August, Lincoln asked all cabinet members to sign -- without having read - a memorandum committing the administration to devote all its powers and energies to help bring the war to a successful conclusion. The presumption was that no Democrat would be able to resist the immense pressure for an immediate compromise peace. Slavery would thus be allowed to remain in the South, and even independence might be sanctioned." (Source: Team of Rivals at page 648.)

To repeat Lincoln's own words written in the blind memo signed by the members of the cabinet: "[I]t will be my duty to so co-operate with the President elect, as to save the Union between the election and the inauguration; as he will have secured his election on such ground that he can not possibly save it afterwards."