[Author’s Name]
[Institution’s Name]
Essay on The Turning Point
The American political and military establishment declared in 1861 that white men would fight the Civil War. The Congress decreed in July 1861, that the war would be fought for the Union and not for conquest or the abolition of slavery. Lincoln concurred on this point. When his generals and Cabinet officials moved beyond the President's plan, Lincoln ruled against them. When black leaders asked that regiments of black soldiers be enrolled under the flag of freedom, Lincoln and his advisors refused. (Cornish, 1956, p.1-12). Many northerners, in stations high and low, seemed to fear a rebellion of slaves more than they feared a rebellion of slave owners. Had northern arms prevailed in 1861 or even in early 1862, slavery might have remained status quo ante bellum.
The political attack on slavery was embodied in a series of laws, termed the Confiscation Acts. Under the provisions of those laws, Lincoln could have enrolled black men as laborers and support elements for the armies in the field. Lincoln chose rather not to invoke those aspects of the Acts. A primary reason was his concern for the border states, especially Kentucky. Lincoln thought that general emancipation or the recruitment of black soldiers would cause Kentucky, and most likely Missouri and Maryland, to become even greater obstacles to the Union cause—to say nothing of antagonism elsewhere in the North. In the case of Kentucky he was correct.
Holding that state in the Union demanded either vast military force or some respect to the wishes of its white population. Lincoln's policy reflected a combination of both. In due course, more black men entered the Army from Kentucky than from any other state except Louisiana. And the reaction of the white population in Kentucky was as negative as had been predicted. But by 1863, negative reaction in Kentucky was considerably less consequential than in 1861 or 1862......
