Final freedom
Subtitle: the Civil War, the abolition of slavery, and the Thirteenth Amendment
By: Michael Vorenberg.
Series: Cambridge historical studies in American law and society
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2001
Place of publication: Cambridge; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 305
Subjects: United States. President (1861-1865 : Lincoln); United States; Slaves -- Emancipation -- United States; African Americans -- Civil rights -- History -- 19th century; Constitutional history -- United States; United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- African Americans; United States -- Politics and government -- 1861-1865
Description: "This book examines emancipation after the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 and during the last years of the American Civil War. Focusing on the making and meaning of the Thirteenth Amendment, Final Freedom looks at the struggle among legal thinkers, politicians, and ordinary Americans in the North and the border states to find a way to abolish slavery that would overcome the inadequacies of the Emancipation Proclamation. The book tells the dramatic story of the creation of a constitutional amendment and reveals an unprecedented transformation in American race relations, politics, and constitutional thought. Using a wide array of archival and published sources, Professor Vorenberg argues that the crucial consideration of emancipation occurred after, not before, the Emancipation Proclamation; that the debate over final freedom was shaped by a level of volatility in society and politics underestimated by prior historians; and that the abolition of slavery by constitutional amendment represented a novel method of reform that transformed attitudes toward the Constitution."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 253-296) and index.