ABSTRACT
Lincoln objected to the Kansas-Nebraska act because it allowed in principle for the extension of slavery. Nobody knew what to make of it, least of all Lincoln, who began to wonder whether McClellan really wanted to hurt the enemy. The Presidency was not directly affected by these elections Lincoln's term had two years still to go but they were a sign that discontent was in the air. It was in October, 1863, that Rosecrans suggested to Lincoln that, now the war was going better, it might be wise to offer a general amnesty to officers and soldiers who had taken part in the rebellion. Sherman’s was not the only Federal achievement of the year. The first was the sinking of the Confederate warship, the Alabama, off Cherbourg in June. New deposits of coal and iron were found, and Birmingham, Alabama, developed into one of the greatest pig-iron centres of the world..
