Lincoln's Choice

Prior to the Civil War, debates over emancipation under the war powers concerned only a limited number of citizens. By 1861, it was a pressing national issue, and its early advocates would soon appear visionary.

The Civil War had turned arcane legal questions about rebel slaves into pressing military realities. With the number of dead and wounded mounting at an historic rate on both sides, northerners could not help but contemplate the strategic advantages of recruiting southern slaves into the Union Army, or at least supporting slaves' efforts to undermine the Confederacy. On August 31, 1861, General John Fremont pushed the issue to a head when he declared martial law in Missouri, stating that all property of those who took up arms against the Union would be confiscated for the public use “and their slaves, if any they have, are hereby declared free.” The justification for Fremont’s battlefield law was explicitly traced back to Adams' arguments about the rights of the federal government under the war power.

Abolitionists rejoiced, but not for long. Adamant that the North was fighting to preserve the Union, not to abolish slavery, Lincoln quickly revoked Fremont’s martial law.