A History of the American People

for the simple reason that only a tiny proportion of them ever had the smallest desire to return to
a continent for which, instinctively, they felt an ancestral aversion. Like everyone else, they
wanted to remain in the United States, even if life there had its drawbacks.
That being so, what to do? And what to do with the rebellious South? On November 19, 1863,
Lincoln had made a short speech at the dedication of the cemetery at Gettysburg. It consisted of
only 261 words, and it did not make much impact at the time-the professional orator Edward
Everett, president of Harvard, was the chief speaker on the occasion-but its phrases have
reverberated ever since, and the ideas those few short words projected have penetrated deep into
the consciousness of humanity. Lincoln reminded Americans that their country was dedicated to the proposition that all men were created equal' and that the war was being fought to determine whether a nation so dedicatedcan long endure.' Second, he referred to unfinished work' and the great task remaining before us.' This was to promote a new birth of freedom' in America, by which he meantgovernment of the people, by the people, for the people.' Lincoln, then, thought
the blacks should be treated as equals, politically and before the law; but at the same time he
insisted that America was a democracy-and Southern whites, rebels though they might be, had as
much right to participate in that democracy as the loyalists. How to reconcile the two?
Lincoln's intentions are known because, while still living, he had to deal with the problem of
governing those parts of the South occupied by Union armies. He was clear about two things.
First, political justice had to be done to the blacks. Second, the South must be got back to normal
government as quickly as possible once the spirit of rebellion was exorcized. He proposed a
general amnesty, to qualify for which 'politically accused persons' would have merely to take an
oath to abide by the Constitution. A state government would be valid, and recognized by
Washington, if not less than 10 percent of the voters who were on the rolls in 1860, and had
taken the loyalty oath, voted for it. He wanted the occupying armies withdrawn as soon as
possible, but he wanted the blacks on the voting rolls first: We must make voters of them before we take away the troops. The ballot will be their only protection after the bayonet is gone.' All this was set down in his Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction, issued December 8, 1863. His first practical step was to get Congress to pass the Thirteenth Amendment. Its first section banned slavery andinvoluntary service' (except for crimes, after conviction by due process)
anywhere in the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.' Section Two empowered Congressto enforce this article by appropriate legislation.' Lincoln did not live to
see the Amendment adopted by the three-quarters majority of the states that it required, but it
was clear he was fully committed to the liberation of slaves and to entrusting them with the vote.
It was also clear that he was in favor of the spirit of the Fourteenth Amendment, adopted in 1868,
which wound up the unfinished business of the Civil War, by dealing with the eligibility for
office of former rebels and the debts incurred by the Confederacy, but, above all, by making all
born or naturalized citizens of the United States equal politically and judicially, and by making it
unconstitutional for any state to deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.' This very important constitutional provision carried forward Lincoln's policy of justice to the blacks into the future, and became in time the basis for desegregation in the South. Balancing this, it was abundantly clear that Lincoln wanted to exercise the utmost clemency. He intended to bind wounds. On April 14, 1865, his friend Gideon Welles described him as cheerful, happy, hoping for peace,full of humanity and gentleness.' His last recorded words on
the subject of what to do with the South and the leaders of the rebellion were: `No one must
expect me to take any part in hanging or killing these men, even the worst of them. Frighten
them out of the country, open the gates, let down the bars, scare them off. Enough lives have