“Without Slavery the Rebellion Could Never Have Existed”
In 1862, Lincoln used his annual message to Congress to make a clear connection between the preservation of the Union and the abolition of slavery. “Without slavery the rebellion could never have existed; without slavery it could not continue,” he stated. The message would come about two months after Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamation (it would go into effect a month later, on January 1, 1863). Lincoln attempted to strike a conciliatory tone, acknowledging the “great diversity of sentiment, and of policy, in regard to slavery, and the African race amongst us,” but white supremacist leaders refused to listen. He was pressured greatly by Black leaders at the time to let Black troops fight against Robert E. Lee and his white supremacist army. Frederick Douglass, the great Black leader and abolitionist, pressured Lincoln to sign the Emancipation Proclamation, when Lincoln did that which changed the course of the war in favor of the Union.
Lincoln argued that freedom for slaves was fundamental to the survival of America. If the Confederacy had won, bondage based on skin color would have lasted much longer. The main authority that gave approval to utilize Black troops was the Subsequent Seizure and Civilian Army Demonstration of July 17, 1862. This act gave President Lincoln permission to use people of African descent for any purpose that “he may judge best for the public welfare” and allowed them to join the military. However, after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued, the President gave permission for African Americans to be used in combat. In addition, he said, “I further declare and make known that such persons of suitable condition will be received into the United States armed service to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places, as well as to man vessels of all kinds in said service.” The Union army was transformed by these words, and then it became very clear that this was a war against slavery.
According to military documents, before joining the army, a black private in the Fifty-fifth Massachusetts Infantry (a Black unit) was a slave. He was 21 years old at the time. Among the reports in his Civil War files was a letter to his wife who held in bondage by racist bigots: “Dear Wife I have enlisted in the army I am now in the state of Massachusetts but before this letter reaches you I will be in North Carolina and though great is the present national difficulties yet I look forward to a brighter day. When I shall have the opportunity of seeing you in the full enjoyment of freedom I would like to know if you are still in slavery if you are it will not be long before we shall have crushed the system that now oppresses you for in the course of three months you shall have your liberty. great is the outpouring of the colored people that is now rallying with the hearts of lions against that very curse that has separated you and me yet we shall meet again and oh what a happy time that will be when this ungodly rebellion shall be put down and the curses of our land is trampled under our feet I am a soldier now and I shall use my utmost endeavor to strike at the rebellion and the heart of this system that so long has kept us in chains . . . remain your own affectionate husband until death- Samuel Cabble.” This is further evidence that the Civil War was centrally about slavery.
