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On Oct. 3, 1863, the White House issued the Thanksgiving Proclamation, declaring the last Thursday of November to be a "day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens." The proclamation also requested "the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore … peace, harmony, and Union."
Earlier, Lincoln had ordered government offices closed on Nov. 28, 1861, for a day of thanksgiving. Up until the 1863 proclamation, individual states had celebrated days of giving thanks. Sarah Joseph Hale, editor of the influential Godey's Lady's Book, had written to Lincoln in late September of that year, pressing for a national day of thanks, a goal she pursued for many years without success.
According to Lincoln's administrative aide John Nicolay, Secretary of State William H. Seward signed the document. Lincoln and Seward by then were friends as well as allies.
Unity was an overarching Lincoln theme throughout the Civil War, employed with shrewd calculation and brilliant political timing. By the fall of 1863, the strategic position of the Union had taken a welcome turn for the better.
In July, there were two significant victories: the Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania and the capture of Vicksburg Mississippi. A sizable Confederate army would never again invade the North, and the great Mississippi River was now completely in Union control.
During the preceding year, one military development provided Lincoln with a precious political opportunity. On Sept. 17, 1862, the Army of the Potomac, under General George B. McClellan, defeated General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia at Antietam Creek in Maryland. The victory was technical; Lee withdrew in order but left the Union forces in control. Nevertheless, the outcome qualified as a Union military success, which was desperately welcome.
Lincoln faced extremely serious challenges beyond the Confederacy. General McClellan was popular with rank-and-file soldiers; he also nurtured national political ambitions. He was committed to the Union but strongly opposed the abolition of slavery. A talented organizer and administrator, he refused to be aggressive in attacking Lee's army.
McClellan became insubordinate, demanding control over all war policy. Lincoln then fired him. McClellan became the Democratic Party's 1864 presidential nominee; Lincoln defeated him again.
President Lincoln, finally confirming control of the Army, moved quickly to exploit the Antietam victory by issuing the Emancipation Proclamation. The executive order of Jan. 1, 1863, freed slaves in the Confederate states. From the fall of 1862, the U.S. government issued a series of warnings under the Second Confiscation Act, passed by Congress on July 17, 1862. The legislation confirmed in law Lincoln's War Powers.
Critics have argued that Lincoln should have included states in the Union, but that would have been unlawful and unwise. Slavery was still legal under the Constitution, and ended in law only when a sufficient number of states ratified the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, announced Dec. 18, 1865. Slavery had support in Border States and areas of the North.
By design, the Emancipation Proclamation is a detailed, dry document that makes the case for removing property, with emphasis on procedure. There is no reference to fundamental moral concerns expressed elsewhere, especially in Lincoln's Gettysburg Address and Second Inaugural.
The Civil War's goals changed from only restoring the Union to the abolition of slavery.
Abraham Lincoln used practical means for transcendent goals, with astonishing political skill.
Give thanks.
Arthur I. Cyr 9(acyr@carthage.edu) is Clausen Distinguished Professor, Carthage College, and author of "After the Cold War" (NYU Press and Palgrave/Macmillan).
