by the south.

as a result, however.

for abuse of power. I mean the Dems were not a liberal progressive party, and damn it, they HATED Lincoln for the many abuses incurred during the war, some real, some perceived.

Worst, if he had not caught a bullet, impeachment proceedings were in the works.

I know, I know way too much inside US History baseball.

I hadn't heard that about impeachment.

Haters throughout our history.

novel... which is based on the real intent.

http://stephencarterbooks.com/books/fiction/impeachment-abraham-lincoln

Mind you the novel takes some liberties... as in huge ones, but it is an amusing read.

But there were real abuses of power during the civil war... from the executive. So yes, there MIGHT have been grounds for this...

That said, the democrats of the time hated Lincoln... with a passion.

It only applied to the territories in rebellion and was, in that sense, more like McArthur's orders about affairs in post WWII Japan than an executive order in normal US government.

Slavery wasn't abolished under the Constitution until Dec. 1865, after Lincoln's assassination. It took another 3 years to pass the 14th Amend, which conferred birth-right citizenship to all born on US soil.

Including Abolitionists, for not going far enough. The EP was a dramatic piece of political theatre aimed primarily at discouraging foreign intervention in the Civil War. Many people at the time thought it was nonsense, as it provided only for freeing slaves in areas not under Federal control, and specifically exempted slaves in areas that were under Federal control.

But it worked as foreign policy, because popular opinion in European countries was significantly anti-slavery, and the governments (who really couldn't have cared less, and leaned towards the CSA because the cotton embargo impacted the bottom line of the plutocrats) could not allow themselves to be put in the position of supporting slavery. Napoleon III had to find another excuse to seize control of Mexico.

Mr Lincoln was also criticized by parties called "Know nothings" and "Copperheads" (think Blue Dog dems, in current terms) for going too far, and also for making himself look ridiculous -- although they already thought he had a lock on making himself look ridiculous.

-- Mal

Lincoln issued it, not as President, but as the "Commander of the Army and Navy". It only applied to areas which were under Confederate control. Slaves in Union held territory were not freed.