Lincoln and Freedom: Slavery, Emancipation, and the Thirteenth Amendment.  Edited by Harold Holzer and Sara Vaughan Gabbard.  Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 2007.

Although many compilated works consisting of a single volume comprised of many articles written by multiple authors can lack consistency or a single thesis, Lincoln and Freedom seems to have a nice cohesion. The volume, taken from articles requested by the editors specifically for this work, follows an almost chronological timeline of Lincoln's life from when he was a boy through the time when he was murdered. Beginning with discussions of Lincoln's philosophy on slavery and some of the prevailing thoughts on slavery at the time and running through the time when those philosophies began to change, the book covers a broad range of topics within that framework and manages to keep its thematic balance throughout. 

As the title suggests, Lincoln's thought is traced in contrast with that of his contemporaries through the course of his life regarding the question of slavery in America.  Even as a boy, Lincoln objected to the very notion of slavery, as did his father, who was predisposed to dislike it because, if nothing else, it was nearly impossible for private enterprise to compete with free labor.  As a young lawyer, Lincoln objected to the infamous Dred Scott decision on multiple grounds, holding that the decision endangered freed black Americans as well as enslaved blacks.  Initially, Lincoln would argue that the absence of slavery would not require enfranchisement of the black populace nor the legalization of intermarriage, but his thoughts on enfranchisement would change over time. 

Heading into both the presidential office and the Civil War, Lincoln would have liked to set aside the issue of slavery for a while, but the conflict between the states seemed inextricably tied to the question of slavery. John Fremont and David Hunter would separately force the question upon Lincoln, but the real change in Lincoln's neutral treatment of slave policy came when General Benjamin Butler refused the request of Southern slave holders the return of their slaves under the premise that they were contraband of war.

Herein lies an underlying issue associated with the slavery question in Lincoln's time: Lincoln used any means at his disposal to undermine the institution of slavery.  At one hand, he would declare that slaves, as people, could not be held as personal property.  On another occasion, as circumstances permitted, he would take a stance similar to that of Butler and claim that, as contraband of war, that Union troops or Northern states held no obligation to return contraband to their Southern proprietors. 

This question was central to the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation, which Lincoln considered to be the hallmark of his presidency.  The proclamation would free slaves within states then in rebellion, but not any others.  Meant as an incentive to any slave owners in rebellion to suspend their support of the confederacy, the Emancipation Proclamation was seen by Lincoln as the first step towards full emancipation.

But how could only some slaves be freed while others remain in bondage? Could the Federal government legally treat the same people unequally merely based on their geographical location or the loyalty of their master? Lincoln knew they could not, and this inequality would necessitate the passage of an amendment to the Constitution abolishing slavery forever. Lincoln wished an amendment pushed through the thirty-eighth Congress, now filled with many lame-duck Congressmen from the recent 1864 election, as soon as possible. Lincoln not only wished the measure to have bipartisan support, but he also wished the question of slavery to be off the table as he knew he would need to begin negotiations with the South in the spring, and a constitutional measure banning slavery would effectively remove the matter from his hands.

Whether by personal wiles, bribery, or simply a mass uprising of conscience by over a dozen Democrats who had voted against the Thirteenth Amendment the previous summer, the Amendment passed, resolving the matter of slavery in the United States.  But not blacks.  The same question of equal treatment under the Constitution applied, necessitating a Fourteenth and eventually a Fifteenth Constitutional Amendment.  Although passed following Lincoln's death, these amendments resolved the lingering questions about slavery, citizenship, equal rights, and freedom.

Although, as is often the case with multi-article works, Lincoln and Freedom suffers from time to time of redundant information or extra-thematic information, the editors manage to keep the subject matter of the articles in this volume tight.  The logical and chronological arrangement of the articles facilitates reading the book as a complete work, not merely as a reference to a particular subject of interest.  The book accomplishes its objective, which is to bring a great deal of information from multiple perspectives to bear on Abraham Lincoln's philosophy of freedom and slavery.

Stephen Edwards