Lincoln and the Thirteenth Amendment

[Christian]

It's impossible to give accurate numbers - we're used to being able to make good estimates nowadays thanks to polling but we don't have that sort of data for the 1860s. While the election of 1864 may not have been an explicit referendum on the amendment, it was clear where the two parties stood. Lincoln certainly made the amendment an issue in the election and watched congressional races with particular concern about obtaining enough votes to pass the amendment. He used developments in Maryland to make a number of public pronouncements about abolition of slavery. And, Lincoln and others called the results of the election a mandate to amend the Constitution and used it as such. I have a whole chapter giving a lot more detail on the amendment and the election of 1864.

(10-07-2015 06:31 PM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  Thanks again, Christian. I have another question - is there any halfways reliable estimation on the "northern" public opinion on the amendment? How many were in favor of this measure, and for what reasons? Regarding the Emancipation Proclamation AFAIK the majority just supported it as a strategy to win the war, and also Lincoln's reelection AFAIK had more to do with recent victories, war tiredness, and the subsequent hopes this was the best way to end the war soon, and less to do with interest in emancipation. AFAIK many still rather feared it.