Freedom National
The Destruction of Slavery in the United States, 1861–1865
15 January 2013
Description
A powerful history of emancipation that reshapes our understanding of Lincoln, the Civil War, and the end of American slavery.
By summer 1861 the federal government invoked military authority to begin freeing slaves, immediately and without slaveholder compensation, as they fled to Union lines in the disloyal South. In the loyal Border States the Republicans tried coaxing officials into gradual abolition with promises of compensation and the colonization abroad of freed blacks. James Oakes shows that Lincoln’s landmark 1863 proclamation marked neither the beginning nor the end of emancipation: it triggered a more aggressive phase of military emancipation, sending Union soldiers onto plantations to entice slaves away and enlist the men in the army. But slavery proved deeply entrenched, with slaveholders determined to re-enslave freedmen left behind the shifting Union lines. Lincoln feared that the war could end in Union victory with slavery still intact. The Thirteenth Amendment that so succinctly abolished slavery was no formality: it was the final act in a saga of immense war, social upheaval, and determined political leadership.
Fresh and compelling, this magisterial history offers a new understanding of the death of slavery and the rebirth of a nation.
Reviews
"Brilliant in analysis and compelling in argument, this is now the book to read on how slavery died." — Library Journal
"This remarkable book offers the best account ever written of the complex historical process known as emancipation. The story is dramatic and compelling, and no one interested in the American Civil War or the fate of slavery can afford to ignore it." — Eric Foner, author of The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery
"Freedom National provides the best account we have of the process of emancipation and the ultimate abolition of slavery, on the ground in the South and in the halls of power at Washington. It also makes clear that from the beginning, nearly all participants recognized that the central issue of the war was slavery and that its likely outcome was a new birth of freedom." — James M. McPherson, author of War on the Waters: The Union and Confederate Navies, 1861—1865
"A masterful piece of scholarship.... A must-read book for anyone seeking a greater understanding of the complicated and politically charged nature of emancipation." — Robert I. Girardi, Washington Independent Review of Books
Awards
Winner — Lincoln Prize, 2013
Also By: James Oakes 
The Crooked Path to Abolition: Abraham Lincoln and the Antislavery Constitution
Paperback, 2022
Finalist for the 2022 Lincoln Prize
An award-winning scholar uncovers the guiding principles of Lincoln’s antislavery strategies.
The Crooked Path to Abolition: Abraham Lincoln and the Antislavery Constitution
Hardback, 2021
An award-winning scholar uncovers the guiding principles of Lincoln’s antislavery strategies.
The Crooked Path to Abolition: Abraham Lincoln and the Antislavery Constitution
E Book, 2021
An award-winning scholar uncovers the guiding principles of Lincoln’s antislavery strategies.
The Scorpion's Sting: Antislavery and the Coming of the Civil War
Paperback, 2015
A Washington Post Notable Work of Nonfiction
The Scorpion's Sting: Antislavery and the Coming of the Civil War
Hardback, 2014
An award-winning historian illuminates the strategy for ending slavery that precipitated the crisis of civil war.
