Slideshow: Currier & Ives: A Nation Divided
President Lincoln and His Cabinet. In Council, Septe. 22nd 1862, Adopting The Emancipation Proclamation, Issued Jany 1st 1863.
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Nathaniel Currier and James Ives
Hand-colored lithograph
Almost from the beginning of President Lincoln's administration, he was pressured by abolitionists and radical Republicans to issue an Emancipation Proclamation. Although Lincoln approved of freeing slaves, he postponed action against slavery until he believed he had wider support from the American people. On January 1, 1863, after increasing public abhorrence towards slavery, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. The document declared the freedom of all slaves in Confederate territory not already under Union control. Though its immediate impact freed few of the slave population, thousands more slaves were liberated as the Union armies advanced. Eventually, close to four million slaves were freed through the declaration of the Emancipation Proclamation.
Hand-colored lithograph
Almost from the beginning of President Lincoln's administration, he was pressured by abolitionists and radical Republicans to issue an Emancipation Proclamation. Although Lincoln approved of freeing slaves, he postponed action against slavery until he believed he had wider support from the American people. On January 1, 1863, after increasing public abhorrence towards slavery, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. The document declared the freedom of all slaves in Confederate territory not already under Union control. Though its immediate impact freed few of the slave population, thousands more slaves were liberated as the Union armies advanced. Eventually, close to four million slaves were freed through the declaration of the Emancipation Proclamation.