Civil War: The Union Was Racist Too.
In 1858, Lincoln wrote
I will say then that I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the black and white races -- that I am not nor ever have been in favor of making VOTERS or jurors of negroes, NOR OF QUALIFYING THEM HOLD OFFICE, nor to intermarry with white people; and I will say in addition to this that there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality. And inasmuch as they cannot so live, while they do remain together there must be the position of superior and inferior, and I as much as any of her man am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race.While slavery was at the root of the Civil War, most Union soldiers who enlisted did so to preserve the Union; the notion that the Union would fight to abolish slavery didn’t come about until late in 1862, after the war had been raging for 1.5 years. Indeed, preservation of the Union was the clarion call.
There were 4 slave states that stayed with the Union. These were Maryland, Missouri, Delaware, and Kentucky. An estimated 10% of Union officers owned slaves. And when the Emancipation Proclamation was issued, it didn’t address slavery in the border states, only Southern states. This was a political calculation by Lincoln to maintain the strength of the gravitational pull holding the Union together.
Further, Lincoln issued the proclamation due to concern that Europe was about to recognize the Confederacy as an official state. He knew that if he added the abolition of slavery to the cause, it would be political suicide for Europe, which was decidedly anti-slavery in the 1860's, to continue with that recognition; recognition might have brought foreign military support to the South, which is why this was a big deal. When it was issued, the Emancipation Proclamation triggered such outrage that 50% of all of the soldiers from Illinois laid down their arms and refused to fight for the Union. Companies from many other states also refused to fight.
And if we rewind back to 1861, McClellan, Lincoln’s head general at the time, wrote:
Notwithstanding all that has been said by the traitors [Southerners] to induce you to believe that our advent among you will be signalized by interference with your slaves, understand one thing clearly—not only will we abstain from all such interference but we will on the contrary with an iron hand, crush any attempted insurrection on their part.Indeed, he would not fight to free slaves. McClellan was not the Union’s general when the Emancipation Proclamation was issued. He left the military and had become Lincoln’s principal political rival
Other Union military leaders derided Black people too. In a letter to his wife in 1860, Sherman, Grant’s right-hand-general, wrote:
All the congresses on earth can’t make the negro anything else than what he is; he must be subject to the white man.While slavery was at the political root of the Civil War, the majority of Americans (North and South) supported it, or were ambivalent about it. And almost all viewed Blacks as inferior. If we talked with Lincoln today about his views on racial justice, we’d be shocked by how off the mark he is. In 1858 he wrote:
I will say then that I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the black and white races -- that I am not nor ever have been in favor of making VOTERS or jurors of negroes, NOR OF QUALIFYING THEM HOLD OFFICE, nor to intermarry with white people; and I will say in addition to this that there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality. And inasmuch as they cannot so live, while they do remain together there must be the position of superior and inferior, and I as much as any of her man am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race.The Union was not filled with crusaders eager to establish racial equality. The US was hostile toward Black people before the war, and this hostility has not abated today.
