The long and turning path to the abolition of American slavery has often been attributed to the equivocations and inconsistencies of antislavery leaders, including Lincoln himself. But James Oakes's brilliant history of Lincoln's antislavery strategies reveals a striking consistency and commitment extending over many years. The linchpin of antislavery for Lincoln was the Constitution of the United States.

Lincoln adopted the antislavery view that the Constitution made freedom the rule in the United States, slavery the exception. Where federal power prevailed, so did freedom. Where state power prevailed, that state determined the status of slavery, and the federal government could not interfere. It would take state action to achieve the final abolition of American slavery. With this understanding, Lincoln and his antislavery allies used every tool available to undermine the institution. Wherever the Constitution empowered direct federal action-in the western territories, in the District of Columbia, over the slave trade-they intervened. As a congressman in 1849 Lincoln sponsored a bill to abolish slavery in Washington, DC. He reentered politics in 1854 to oppose what he considered the unconstitutional opening of the territories to slavery by the Kansas-Nebraska Act. He attempted to persuade states to abolish slavery by supporting gradual abolition with compensation for slaveholders and the colonization of free Blacks abroad.

President Lincoln took full advantage of the antislavery options opened by the Civil War. Enslaved people who escaped to Union lines were declared free. The Emancipation Proclamation, a military order of the president, undermined slavery across the South. It led to abolition by six slave states, which then joined the coalition to affect what Lincoln called the "King's cure": state ratification of the constitutional amendment that in 1865 finally abolished slavery.

About the Author
James Oakes is one of our foremost Civil War historians and a two-time winner of the Lincoln Prize for his works on the politics of abolition. He teaches at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.

Reviews
"With this superb book, Oakes opens the way for a thorough retelling of the nation's history from the American Revolution to the Civil War." -- Sean Wilentz, author of No Property in Man
"Eleanor Roosevelt used to say, 'If you must compromise, compromise up.' The champion compromiser up was Lincoln, as Oakes proves, avoiding the simple views of him as just opportunist or just emancipator. He knew where he was going, even when he had to obscure the goal." -- Garry Wills, author of Lincoln at Gettysburg
"A diamond of historical scholarship, with deep research and understanding shining brilliantly in every facet." -- Sidney Blumenthal, author of The Political Life of Abraham Lincoln
"With crisp and lucid prose, Oakes provides a map that guides the reader through the zigs and zags of the path to freedom." -- James M. McPherson, author of Battle Cry of Freedom
"Brilliant...A landmark contribution." -- David S. Reynolds, author of Abe: Abraham Lincoln in His Times
"On Lincoln, on the Civil War, on slavery's downfall, on constitutional change-this is an indispensable book." -- Amy Dru Stanley, author of From Bondage to Contract
"No other scholar has shed more light on Lincoln's way of dealing with slavery." -- Michael Burlingame, author of Abraham Lincoln: A Life
"Cogently argued, by one of our foremost historians of emancipation." -- Manisha Sinha, author of The Slave's Cause
"I read this remarkable book with pleasure and admiration. Oakes writes like a dream." -- Don Herzog, author of Sovereignty, RIP


Awards
Short-listed for Lincoln Prize 2022.



Book Information
ISBN 9781324020196
Author James Oakes
Format Paperback
Page Count 288
Imprint WW Norton & Co
Publisher WW Norton & Co
Weight(grams) 220g
Dimensions(mm) 211mm * 140mm * 20mm