Word: lincolnisms
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...apologize for his theft by blaming the horse. "No, Mr. President, it is not the innocent horse that makes the horse thief ... but the cruel and brutal cupidity of those who wish to possess horses, money and Negroes by means of theft, robbery and rebellion." He called Lincoln "a genuine representative of American prejudice" who was more concerned about the border states than about any "principle of justice and humanity...
What Douglass did not know was that Lincoln had already drafted a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation but had not made it public. Lincoln wanted to free the slaves, but he felt that the nation was not yet ready for an antislavery war. He was an astute judge of public opinion and knew that he could not be more than one step ahead of it without losing support. His colonization plan helped in this effort; it was good politics and made emancipation seem tolerable to conservatives, especially slaveholders in the border states. The tide of public opinion was beginning to turn...
...Lincoln also needed a Union victory. The war was not going well, and people were losing patience. With a major battle about to begin in September 1862, he was still hesitant about going public with his plan. But after General George McClellan defeated Robert E. Lee at Antietam, Lincoln declared that as of Jan. 1, 1863, all slaves in the rebel states would be "forever free." And the final Emancipation Proclamation called for the enlistment of black troops...
With emancipation, Douglass's attitude toward Lincoln suddenly and dramatically changed. Never again would he so harshly criticize the President, even though they continued to disagree on many things. He knew that the proclamation was a revolutionary document that turned the war into a "contest of civilization against barbarism" rather than a struggle for territory, as he put it. It acquired for him "a life and power far beyond its letter" and became another sacred text, which restored the Declaration to its rightful place at the center of the nation's laws. Henceforth, he said, Jan. 1 would rank with...
...When Lincoln saw Douglass, he rose to greet him. "Mr. Douglass, I know you; I have read about you ... Sit down, I am glad to see you." He referred to Douglass's attack on his "tardy, hesitating, vacillating policy" and acknowledged that at times he might seem slow to act. But he denied wavering: "When I have once taken a position, I have [never] retreated from it." After hearing Douglass's complaints, Lincoln assured him that black soldiers would eventually receive the same pay as white soldiers, and he promised to sign any promotion for blacks that the Secretary...