Bill,

         Read Paul Finkleman's reply earlier today on the reasons why
Lincoln only had authority to free the slaves in the confederacy. The rest
of the slaves were freed by the constitutional amendments if not sooner by
conscience.

         There is nothing wrong with "sitting on the fence", if indeed
Lincoln did so, during times of transition. But of all I've learned about
Lincoln over half a century, I don't see him as one who "sat on the fence".
He was a man who moved and shook ... right to the foundations of moral
understandings. As much as any soldier during the Civil War, Lincoln gave
his life for his "cause" ....

                                                 Anne

At 05:36 PM 2/25/03 -0500, you wrote:
>"I am quite certain Douglass was not the only abolitionist who had Lincoln's
>ear."
>
>His Sec of State was an abolitionist...Lincoln did a very good job of sitting
>on the fence until 1862 when he realized that to keep Great Britain and
>France from siding with the South he need to do something....not to mention
>the pressure he was getting from inside his party to do something.  It is
>interesting that he only freed the slaves that were in territory held by the
>CSA.....not DC nor Delaware or Maryland. Not to mention Northern Va. or New
>Orleans....places in the south held by the Federal...just an interesting
>observation....I sure it was an oversight when he wrote the EP..;-)
>
>Bill
>
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Anne Pemberton
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