Many of the white strikers found
themselves drafted into the Army, and they did not appreciate
fighting to secure the freedom of men who took away their jobs.
Even during the war racial emotions continued to run high in the
North.
In 1862 General Hunter proclaimed the freedom of all slaves in
the military sector: Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina. When
Lincoln heard of it, he immediately reversed the decree. He
preferred gradual, compensated emancipation followed by
voluntary emancipation. He persuaded Congress to pass a bill
promising Federal aid to any state which set forth a policy of
gradual compensated emancipation. Abolitionists said that
masters should not be paid for freeing their slaves because
slaves were never legitimate property. Congress also established
a fund to aid voluntary emigration to either Africa or Latin
America. However, few slaves were interested even in compensated
emancipation, and the plan received almost no support. Lincoln
finally concluded that emancipation had become a military
necessity. In September 1862 he issued a preliminary
decree promising to free all slaves in rebel territory.
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