Originally published in 1964, The Struggle for Equality presents an incisive and vivid look at the abolitionist movement and the legal basis it provided to the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Pulitzer Prize–winning historian James McPherson explores the role played by rights activists during and after the Civil War, and their evolution from despised fanatics into influential spokespersons for the radical wing of the Republican Party. Asserting that it was not the abolitionists who failed to instill principles of equality, but rather the American people who refused to follow their leadership, McPherson raises questions about the obstacles that have long hindered American reform movements. This new Princeton Classics edition marks the fiftieth anniversary of the book's initial publication and includes a new preface by the author. "Winner of the Warren F. Kuehl Prize, Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations" "Must surely be assigned an important place in the literature of the history of ideas and of race relations in the United States." ― The Times Literary Supplement " The Abolitionist Legacy shows many of the same graces as its predecessor: wide-ranging and careful research, a strong sense of story line, an eye for good quotations, unyielding sympathy for those who devoted their lives to uplifting the freedmen." ― Reviews in American History "In addition to discussing the complex blend of egalitarianism and paternalism in the thought of white proponents of black advancement, McPherson offers suggestions of the intricate mixture of racial consciousness, individual ambition, and racial romanticism that continues to fuel modern black separatism." ― Political Science Quarterly James M. McPherson is the George Henry Davis '86 Professor of History Emeritus at Princeton University. His many books include the Pulitzer Prize-winning Battle Cry of Freedom and the New York Times bestseller Crossroads of Freedom . The Struggle for Equality Abolitionists and the Negro in the Civil War and Reconstruction By James M. McPherson PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS Copyright © 1992 Princeton University Press All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-0-691-16390-1 Contents Preface to the Princeton Classics Edition, ix, Preface, xiii, Key to Abbreviations, xvii, Introduction, 3, I. The Election of 1860, 9, II. Secession and the Coming of War, 29, III. The Emancipation Issue: 1861, 52, IV. Emancipation and Public Opinion: 1861-1862, 75, V. The Emancipation Proclamation and the Thirteenth Amendment, 99, VI. The Negro: Innately Inferior or Equal?, 134, VII. Freedmen's Education: 1861-1865, 154, VIII. The Creation of the Freedmen's Bureau, 178, IX. Men of Color, to Arms!, 192, X. The Quest for Equal Rights in the North, 221, XI. The Ballot and Land for the Freedmen: 1861-1865, 238, XII. The Reelection of Lincoln, 260, XIII. Schism in the Ranks: 1864-1865, 287, XIV. Andrew Johnson and Reconstruction: 1865, 308, XV. The Fourteenth Amendment and the Election of 1866, 341, XVI. Military Reconstruction and Impeachment, 367, XVII. Education and Confiscation: 1865-1870, 386, XVIII. The Climax of the Crusade: the Fifteenth Amendment, 417, Bibliographical Essay, 433, Index, 451, CHAPTER 1 THE ELECTION OF 1860 THE election of 1860 confronted Garrisonian abolitionists with a dilemma. For the first time an avowedly antislavery party had an excellent chance of winning the presidency. This intoxicating prospect was too much for some Garrisonians, especially those of the younger generation, who forsook the antipolitical traditions of the movement and gave positive support to Abraham Lincoln. A majority of Garrisonians, however, remained true to their principles, refused to give an explicit endorsement to the Republican party (though hoping for its victory), and criticized the party sharply for its antislavery shortcomings. Garrisonians had always taken an ambivalent attitude toward antislavery political parties. In the 1840's Garrison and Phillips were not entirely displeased by the growth of the free soil coalition. "We look upon the Free Soil movement as the unavoidable result of our principles and agitation," declared Phillips in 1849, "and hail it so far as its formation gives proof of a wider spread of a degree of antislavery feeling in the community." But it remained nevertheless a free soil and not an abolitionist party, unworthy of genuine abolitionist support because it was not "pledged to trample underfoot the compromises of the Constitution." In 1856 many Garrisonians expressed sympathy for the Republican party and its dashing presidential candidate, John C. Fremont. From 1856 to 1860 there was a growing debate within the American Anti-Slavery Society over the attitude abolitionists should take toward the Republican party. Some Garrisonians became outright Republicans. Most of them, however, continued to shun politics, watching the course of the Republicans critical