July 22, 1862---Lincoln unveils the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation

JULY 22, 1862:  

President Lincoln stuns his cabinet by showing them a preliminary draft of the Emancipation Proclamation. The Cabinet is divided, not on the issue but on its wording and timing. It is a bold move by Lincoln, coming as it does during a period of decline in Union fortunes. Legislation has been passed giving the government the power to confiscate slaves as contraband of war.  Union officers are under instructions not to return slaves seeking sanctuary with the Union army to their masters.  Congress has banned slavery in the Territories. African-Americans are beginning to fight in organized units in the Union Army. However, all of this is a far cry from Lincoln, with a stroke of his pen, seeking to emancipate all slaves in territory controlled by the Confederacy. 

Lincoln hopes that slaves fleeing their masters will undercut the Confederate war effort, as many slaves work in the fields, mines and factories as a vital, if unappreciated, element of the Southern war effort. Slaveless fields cannot be cultivated, especially with the white menfolk away at war.  Knowing that the Proclamation will shock the riven nation, Lincoln adds that he will wait to announce Emancipation until the Union Army has achieved a substantial military victory.