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The Crisis of the American Republic c.1840-1877

Lincoln's war presidency and emancipation

  • 3 things to know
  • AS Unit 2 and A2 Unit 4

Overview

Lincoln's management of his cabinet, what the Confiscation Acts provided and treating fugitives as contraband of war.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

What was Lincoln's stated war aim in 1861?

Key term

Why did Lincoln handle the border states so carefully?

Key term

How did Lincoln use his executive powers in wartime?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    What was Lincoln's stated war aim in 1861?

    Model answer

    The preservation of the Union, which he insisted was his paramount object whether it meant freeing all the enslaved, some, or none.

  2. 2

    Why did Lincoln handle the border states so carefully?

    Model answer

    Kentucky, Missouri, Maryland and Delaware were slave states that had not seceded, and losing them would have cost him manpower, the Ohio river line and the capital itself.

  3. 3

    How did Lincoln use his executive powers in wartime?

    Model answer

    He called out troops, spent money and blockaded the coast before Congress met, and suspended habeas corpus so that thousands were held without trial, arguing that saving the Constitution justified straining one part of it.

  4. 4

    Describe Lincoln's management of his cabinet.

    Model answer

    He appointed his leading rivals, including Seward as Secretary of State and Chase at the Treasury, tolerated their ambitions and criticism, and established his authority over them by his own judgement rather than by rank.

  5. 5

    How did Lincoln handle the Trent affair?

    Model answer

    He allowed the release of the two Confederate envoys seized from a British ship in 1861 rather than risk war with Britain, on the principle of one war at a time.

  6. 6

    State what the Confiscation Acts provided.

    Model answer

    Laws of 1861 and 1862 which allowed the seizure of property used to support the rebellion and freed enslaved people belonging to those in arms against the United States.

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