…showed first 75 words of 864 total…

…showed last 75 words of 864 total…his 1862 Emancipation Proclamation. Lincoln was not an abolitionist, but knew in his heart and mind that the institution of slavery was morally wrong. However, his main concern was the state of the country, if that meant continuing slavery and looking the other way while it was practiced, so be it. Fortunately, it came to the point that the only way the Union could be made whole was if the peculiar institution of slavery was abolished.