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But what would have happened if Lincoln had issued no Emancipation Proclamation? For one, he might have lost the war. Soldiers in the North were already growing weary of the fighting and unlike the South they were not defending their homeland so they did not have the same passion for the fight as the rebel soldiers did. The Emancipation Proclamation not only provided a new mission to the battle; it also unleashed the force of thousands of new soldiers – the freed slaves – who provided renewed vigor to the fight. Finally, what would have happened if Lincoln had issued the EP not in 1863 but in 1861 when the war began? Many people believe that the country was not ready for such a radical policy and that Lincoln would have looked ruthless in his approach to the South. In fact, Lincoln still hoped that he could retain the Southern states and establish a plan for a gradual, negotiated end to slavery. Here is an incredible thought to behold: Lincoln, in his famous debates with Stephen Douglas, argued that the peaceful and gradual end to slavery might take a hundred years or more, meaning that slavery would have remained a part of American life to 1958! Of course the long-term alternative to freeing the slaves was to return them to Africa. This remained an interest of Lincoln’s well after the Proclamation was signed.

'''Even though Lincoln is perhaps the most carefully documented and discussed president in United States history, he has remained surprisingly enigmatic. How does your book help us understand this complicated man?'''