ABSTRACT
In his first inaugural address of March 1861, President Abraham Lincoln stated flatly that he had “no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with slavery in the States where it exists.” Congress agreed. In a near unanimous vote, it passed the Crittenden-Johnson resolution, assuring the nation that the war was being fought not to overthrow or interfere “with the rights or established institutions” of the slave states but only “to defend and maintain the supremacy of the Constitution and to preserve the Union.” 1 Both Lincoln and Congress reflected the attitudes of the vast majority of northern whites, who were far from abolitionists. Though they opposed slavery’s expansion, they had little objection to the institution as long as it remained confined to the South. For the most part, they sought to keep the North a white man’s country while keeping their conflict with the South a white man’s war. Most northern whites, therefore, did not wish to broach the conjoined idea of emancipation or citizenship rights for free blacks.
