Lincoln's Hundred Days : the emancipation proclamation and the war for the Union

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Title:

Lincoln's Hundred Days : the emancipation proclamation and the war for the Union

Author:

Masur, Louis P., author.

ISBN:

9780674066908

Personal Author:

Masur, Louis P., author.

Physical Description:

viii, 358 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Abstract:

"The time has come now," Abraham Lincoln told his cabinet as he presented the preliminary draft of a "Proclamation of Emancipation." Lincoln's effort to end slavery has been controversial since its inception -- when it was denounced by some as an unconstitutional usurpation and by others as an inadequate half-measure -- up to the present, as historians have discounted its import and impact. At the sesquicentennial of the Emancipation Proclamation, Louis Masur seeks to restore the document's reputation by exploring its evolution. Lincoln's Hundred Days is the first book to tell the full story of the critical period between September 22, 1862, when Lincoln issued his preliminary Proclamation, and January 1, 1863, when he signed the final, significantly altered, decree. In those tumultuous hundred days, as battlefield deaths mounted, debate raged. Masur commands vast primary sources to portray the daily struggles and enormous consequences of the president's efforts as Lincoln led a nation through war and toward emancipation. With his deadline looming, Lincoln hesitated and calculated, frustrating friends and foes alike, as he reckoned with the anxieties and expectations of millions. We hear these concerns, from poets, cabinet members, and foreign officials, from enlisted men on the front and free blacks as well as slaves. Masur presents a fresh portrait of Lincoln as a complex figure who worried about, listened to, debated, prayed for, and even joked with his country, and then followed his conviction in directing America toward a terrifying and thrilling unknown. - Jacket flap.

Assesses President Lincoln's leadership in the one hundred days preceding the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, a period characterized by mounting deaths on the battlefield and heated national debates.

Contents:

Prologue: September 22, 1862: Lincoln Tells a Story -- THE PATH TO THE PRELIMINARY PROCLAMATION : Toward Emancipation ; Messages and Measures ; A New Departure ; Movement -- ONE HUNDRED DAYS : Judgments ; The Reactions of Scholars and Soldiers ; Intervention and Election Fever ; "We Cannot Escape History" ; Standing Firm -- THE PROCLAMATION AND BEYOND : Jubilee ; "Men of Color, To Arms!" ; "It Can Not Be Retracted" ; Emancipation Triumphant -- Epilogue: April 4, 1865: Lincoln Visits Richmond.

Subject Term:

Slaves -- Emancipation -- United States.

Politics and government (OCoLC)fst01919741

Slavery. (OCoLC)fst01120426

Slaves -- Emancipation. (OCoLC)fst01120540

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Library	Material Type	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
Searching... Sugar Grove - Todd Library	Book	E453 .M266 2012	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

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Summary

"Lincoln's Hundred Days" is the first book to tell the full story of the critical period between September 22, 1862, when Lincoln issued his preliminary Proclamation, and January 1, 1863, when he signed the final, significantly altered, decree. In those tumultuous hundred days, as battlefield deaths mounted, debate raged. Masur commands vast primary sources to portray the daily struggles and enormous consequences of the president's efforts as Lincoln led a nation through war and toward emancipation. With his deadline looming, Lincoln hesitated and calculated, frustrating friends and foes alike, as he reckoned with the anxieties and expectations of millions. We hear these concerns, from poets, cabinet members and foreign officials, from enlisted men on the front and free blacks as well as slaves.

Masur presents a fresh portrait of Lincoln as a complex figure who worried about, listened to, debated, prayed for, and even joked with his country, and then followed his conviction in directing America toward a terrifying and thrilling unknown.

Reviews (4)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Though historians today debate the underlying causes of the Civil War, no one in 1861 doubted that it was fought over slavery, says Rutgers history professor Masur. The subject obsessed the media, Congress, and the president. Masur delivers an intelligent account of how Lincoln balanced politics with the goal of ending slavery. Focused on conciliating border slave states that did not secede, Lincoln at first squelched antislavery enthusiasts, but events and his own inclinations made this a losing battle. A seething Congress ended slavery in the District of Columbia in April 1862. Lincoln discussed a proclamation with his cabinet in July and awaited a victory, which came at Antietam, to announce it publicly on September 22 and signed the final decree 100 days later on January 1, 1863. Generations of critics have asserted that the Emancipation Proclamation freed no one because it applied only to rebel-controlled areas. Countering that, Masur makes a convincing case that, if the proclamation didn't immediately free all slaves, it did guarantee the end of slavery. Readers will enjoy his rich, perceptive history of the passionate maneuvering that produced it. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Kirkus Review

In a scholarly examination of the Emancipation Proclamation, Masur (American Studies and History/Rutgers Univ.; The Civil War: A Concise History, 2011, etc.) reveals the intensive intellectual development and political debate behind President Lincoln's resolve. The Proclamation was actually heralded by a preliminary document floated cautiously on September 22, 1862, announcing that in 100 days--Jan. 1, 1863--the president would proclaim the freeing of any slaves within the states "in rebellion against the United States," among other important assertions intended to test the waters. Masur revisits the president's growing sense of solemn moral responsibility, in spite of being battered by criticism from all sides. Prior to this time, runaway slaves were already being declared by the Union military as "contraband of war," codified into law by the Confiscation Act of 1861, while John Charles Frmont, as commander of the Department of the West, had declared his own bold emancipation proclamation for Missouri. Yet Lincoln hesitated for legal reasons, uncertain about a proclamation's constitutionality; he feared the effects on the army, on the border (slave) states of Missouri, Kentucky, Delaware and Maryland, which might be pushed to join the Confederacy, and on the slaves themselves--would emancipation foment insurrection against whites? During these 100 days, Lincoln essentially took the country's measure and found that many abolitionists felt relief and could finally express their views; soldiers often wrote how the war experience turned them against slavery; and if the U.S. didn't pass emancipation, the South might have first, in order to curry England's support. Moreover, the exigencies of winning the war demanded action. Masur carefully delineates the differences inherent in the final Proclamation, such as the elimination of mention of colonization of blacks and inclusion of blacks into the military. A moving, accessible portrayal of Lincoln as a deeply humble, strangely physical presence who spoke in oracular parables. ]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Choice Review

The year 2009 marked the bicentennial of Lincoln's birth, producing yet more books on the most written-about US president; 2012 was the 150th anniversary of Lincoln's preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, issued September 22, 1862. It promised that all those held as slaves in rebellious states would be "forever free" on January 1, 1863. Masur (Rutgers) traces the 100 days between September 22 and January 1, examining key federal and congressional legislation and responses by politicians, military personnel, abolitionists, proslavery persons, scholars, the press, slaves, et al. After plodding through some well-trodden soil, Masur concludes that "Lincoln became bolder" during these days, while the Proclamation represented an unprecedented attack on slavery. This verdict will satisfy many Lincoln scholars and some of the reading public. However, the author's refusal to consider that the Civil War provided slaves with an opportunity for an unprecedented attack on slavery not only buttresses the mythical view of the Great Emancipator, but also overlooks more profound implications for US historiography, equating slave emancipation with presidential edict. Unfortunately, the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation in 2013 will bring more of the same. Summing Up: Optional. General, undergraduate, and public libraries. J. R. Kerr-Ritchie Howard University

Library Journal Review

Masur describes the personal, political, military, and moral interests pushing Lincoln toward "the new birth of freedom" promised in the Emancipation Proclamation and shows that he never wavered from that commitment, even in the face of military and political reverses. (LJ 8/12) (c) Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Prologue September 22, 1862: Lincoln Tells a Story	p. 1
The Path to the Preliminary Proclamation
1 Toward Emancipation	p. 13
2 Messages and Measures	p. 39
3 A New Departure	p. 65
4 Movement	p. 79
One Hundred Days
5 Judgments	p. 101
6 The Reactions of Scholars and Soldiers	p. 117
7 Intervention and Election Fever	p. 139
8 "We Cannot Escape History"	p. 169
9 Standing Firm	p. 185
The Proclamation and Beyond
10 Jubilee	p. 205
11 "Men of Color, To Arms!"	p. 219
12 "It Can Not Be Retracted"	p. 239
13 Emancipation Triumphant	p. 264
Epilogue April 4, 1865: Lincoln Visits Richmond	p. 275
Appendix Texts of the Emancipation Proclamation	p. 289
Notch	p. 297
Acknowledgments	p. 336
Index	p. 339

SD_ILS:95332

Masur, Louis P., author.

2012

Lincoln's Hundred Days : the emancipation proclamation and the war for the Union

9780674066908

Lincoln's Hundred Days : the emancipation proclamation and the war for the Union

Emanzipationserklärung

Emancipation Proclamation.

Emancipation Proclamation (United States. President (1861-1865 : Lincoln))

M03400044238

Available:*

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Summary

Reviews (4)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Kirkus Review

Choice Review

Library Journal Review

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