The Fiery Trial_ Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery - Eric Foner [215]
July 12: Meets with members of Congress from the border states to promote a plan for gradual, compensated emancipation with colonization.
July 13: Mentions his plan for general emancipation to cabinet members Gideon Welles and William H. Seward.
July 17: Signs the Second Confiscation Act freeing slaves owned by disloyal persons who come within Union lines and providing funds for colonization.
Signs the Militia Act authorizing enrollment of blacks in the war effort.
July 22: Presents to the cabinet an order for general emancipation in the Confederacy; issuance is postponed at the urging of Secretary of State Seward and others.
August 14: Meets at the White House with a black delegation and urges them to support the idea of colonization.
August 22: Releases his letter responding to Horace Greeley’s “Prayer of Twenty Millions.”
August 25: The War Department authorizes recruitment of black soldiers in the Sea Islands.
September 22: Five days after the battle of Antietam, Lincoln issues the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, warning that slaves in areas still in rebellion on January 1 will be freed, promising aid to states that adopt plans for gradual, compensated emancipation, and again referring to colonization.
November 29: Attorney General Edward Bates rules that free black persons born in the United States are American citizens.
December 1: Lincoln’s annual message to Congress reiterates his support for gradual, compensated emancipation with colonization.
December 31: Lincoln signs the bill admitting West Virginia to the Union.
Signs a contract with Bernard Kock for the transportation of freed slaves to Île à Vache, Haiti.
1863
January 1: Issues the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing all slaves in the Confederacy except certain exempted areas, and authorizing enlistment of blacks into armed forces.
February: West Virginia provides for gradual emancipation; immediate abolition is enacted early in 1865.
March 16: American Freedmen’s Inquiry Commission is appointed to recommend policies regarding emancipated slaves.
May–July: Black soldiers take part in battles at Port Hudson and Milliken’s Bend, Louisiana, and Fort Wagner, South Carolina.
July 1–4: Union army wins battles at Gettysburg and Vicksburg.
July 30: Lincoln issues an order for retaliation for the mistreatment of black soldiers.
August 10: Meets with Frederick Douglass to discuss recruitment and treatment of black troops.
August 26: Lincoln’s public letter to James C. Conkling defends his emancipation policy.
November 19: Lincoln gives the Gettysburg Address.
December 8: Outlines his Ten Percent Plan of Reconstruction and issues the Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction.
1864
March 13: Sends letter to Michael Hahn, governor of Louisiana, favoring limited black suffrage.
March 16: Voters in Arkansas ratify the state constitution abolishing slavery.
April 8: The Senate approves the Thirteenth Amendment abolishing slavery.
May–June: General Ulysses S. Grant’s campaign in Virginia leads to enormous casualties.
June 15: The House fails to approve the Thirteenth Amendment.
June 15: Lincoln signs the bill providing partial retroactive equal pay for black soldiers; full retroactive equal pay is enacted in March 1865.
July 4: Pocket vetoes Wade-Davis Bill.
August 16: Meets with Frederick Douglass about ways to spread news of the Emancipation Proclamation among slaves.
September 2: General William T. Sherman occupies Atlanta.
September 5: Voters of Louisiana ratify the state constitution abolishing slavery.
October 13: Voters of Maryland ratify the state constitution abolishing slavery.
November 8: Lincoln is reelected president.
1865
January 11: Missouri constitutional convention provides for abolition; constitution is ratified in June. January 13: U.S. House of Representatives approves the Thirteenth Amendment.