Hi George,

You wrote:

"I would trust him either, he was like my moms sheets went in the direction the wind was blowing."

I fail to see why the Confederacy felt that representative government had fallen apart. Why was Congress no longer a viable option to confront a perceived threat from the executive branch?

You wrote:

"Perhaps as I have pointed out earlier, slavery was not the issue..."

The Vice President of the Confederacy, Alexander Stephens disagreed with that point. See his infamous "Cornerstone Speech."

You wrote:

"Let's put the issue of slavery behind us. If we are to blindly believe everything Lincoln said then we should believe this --- "My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. 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. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union. I shall do less whenever I shall believe what I am doing hurts the cause, and I shall do more whenever I shall believe doing more will help the cause."

This is one of my favorite Lincoln documents! Like any document, we must place it into context. 145 years ago today (how timely!), Horace Greeley published his "Prayer of the Twenty Millions" in the New York Tribune (see today's entry on my website http://www.lincolnstudies.com). Greeley was frustrated by the course of the war and called on Lincoln to enforce the Confiscation Acts, which would provide sanctuary for escaped slaves. Greeley chastised Lincoln for not ending slavery.

The document you quoted is Lincoln's response to Greeley, published two days after Greeley's initial letter. The Emancipation Proclamation was literally sitting in the president's desk as he wrote. Lincoln knew what was coming, Emancipation was imminent, but on the advice from his Cabinet and upon reflection, he was waiting for a Union victory before he issued it.

I don't see duplicity in Lincoln's "Greeley letter." Just for a moment, let's take him at his word. He is walking the public through his thought-process. His primary objective is to save the Union and he tells the public that whatever he does to slavery is a military measure with the ultimate goal being to save the Union. A month later, Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation and when Northerners complain about fighting a war to end slavery, Lincoln can point to the Greeley letter--"What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union."

Best,
Sam.