| Abraham
Lincoln’s election to the presidency, with slavery and states’ rights as the
major campaign issues, caused South Carolina, on December 20, 1860, to declare, "the
union now existing between South Carolina and other States under the name of the United
States of America is hereby dissolved." The War between the States began when the first hostile shot was fired on January 9, 1861, and ended formally, with the surrender of the South, on April 9, 1865. The combined armies of both sides lost over 600,000 soldiers, white and black, who died from battle wounds or disease. The Union and the anti-slavery cause lost one president, Abraham Lincoln, the emancipator. At the beginning of the Civil War, Negroes were not wanted in the battle to save the Union and abolish slavery. According to the 1898 'Negro in America', "when the question was first broached of enlisting Negro soldiers there was a very strong prejudice against it among both officers and men. The general opinion seemed to be that slaves were disqualified for efficient service as soldiers by reason of their ignorance and the servile spirit begotten by bondage. They could not be expected to be brave, it was said, especially when brought face to face with former masters whom they had been taught to respect, reverence and obey." Lincoln’s overriding concern at the beginning of the Civil War was the preservation of the Union. As late as the latter part of 1862 he said, "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." [Back] [Next] [Up] [New Search] 'Black History' segment written in June, 1998 by David Lodge |
Abraham Lincoln |
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