Purchase Solution

Union Policy Towards Slavery

Not what you're looking for?

Ask Custom Question

In 1860, the institution of slavery was firmly entrenched in the United States; by 1865, it was dead. How did this happen? How did the Union policy towards slavery and enslaved people change over the course of the war? Why did it change?

Purchase this Solution
Solution Summary

In a letter to Horace Greeley in August of 1862, Abraham Lincoln explained his view on slavery in America, "If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that".

Solution Preview

In a letter to Horace Greeley in August of 1862, Abraham Lincoln explained his view on slavery in America, "If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that".

Slavery was not firmly entrenched in the United States in 1860, that premise is incorrect. Slavery as an institution that was in decline economically, with recent European immigrants from Ireland suffering the perils of the free market in much of America. In 1808, the slave trade was declared illegal and smugglers caught importing African or Caribbean ...

Purchase this Solution
Free BrainMass Quizzes
America Fighting for Good - World War II : 1940 - 1945

The quiz will test your knowledge of America and its role in World War II - how it avoided the war, got involved and emerged as a world power and forever losing its isolationist policy.

America After WWII

This quiz will access your knowledge of America after WWII and the new age that the country was entering into.

Social Studies European Review

A knowledge base of history is important to understanding our world today. Take a few moments on this quick review of Europe.

The New Government Begins

The quiz is designed to test your knowledge of American history after a new government and Constitution are put in place.

The Slavery Question in the American Territories

This quiz will test your knowledge about various laws and policies on slavery in the U.S. during the 19th century.

View More Free Quizzes
Related BrainMass Solutions

  • Early federal land policy

    541210 Early Federal Land Policy What was the early federal land policy towards blacks during the war? See the attached file.

  • Presidential Decisions

    He once said he did not remember when he did not feel a bit of dislike towards slavery [Holzer, 105], but he always recognized that while he opposed extending slavery into the new territories west of the Mississippi, nobody had the power to end slavery

  • Secessionist Arguments for Leaving the Union

    The northern policy of taxation was intolerable and they could no longer bear it. The secessionists noted that constitution itself allowed them to secede from the union.

  • Issues in the History of Georgia

    The cooperationists agreed to remain in the Union if the system of slavery would remain.

  • Debate: Banning of Slavery Outright

    The idea and practice of slavery - indentured servants, ownership of 'slaves' subject to the will, needs and command of their owners go against the Lockean ideal that the Founding Fathers espoused and looked towards as one of the defining philosophies

  • Why the war to save the Union became the war to end slavery

    343064 Why the war to save the Union became the war to end slavery Describe how and why the war to save the Union became the war to end slavery? Thank you for using Brainmass.

  • Examining the Civil War

    Towards the end of the Civil War, northern leaders agreed that victory would require more than the end of fighting. It had to encompass the two war goals: Secession had to be totally repudiated, and all forms of slavery had to be eliminated.

  • Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation as Focal Topics.

    Indeed, Lincoln told Horace Greeley in a famous letter that he did what he did regarding slavery only as it related to preserving the Union.

  • South Carolina Declaration of Secession

    Although Lincoln's name is not mentioned in this document, his election and his view on slavery has everything to do with them seceding from the Union.

View More Related Solutions