1861-1865

President Lincoln outlawed slavery. And the governor of Massachusetts began recruiting black soldiers. They formed the 54th Massachusetts regiment. At first, few people believed that they would make good soldiers. But the brave 54th defeated their enemies in battle. They did it time and again-proving everyone wrong.

Examines the events leading up to President Abraham Lincoln's decision to write the Emancipation Proclamation ending slavery, including the beginning of the Civil War.

A collection of materials in varied media and formats about the life of Abraham Lincoln and his accomplishment as politician and president. Includes a resource book with short narrative summaries by historians and extensive background materials (also on CD-ROM), ten posters of Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglas, and others, eight placards depicting historic figures and images, a DVD with eight lectures by major historians, an interactive CD-ROM with soldiers' letters, Civil War songs and photographs, and a poster sized timeline of all the major dates and events.

Of all the documents in American history, Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation ranks among the most important. It began the process of freeing four million Americans from slavery and led to constitutional amendments that ensure equal protections for all Americans.

Presents the biography of Abraham Lincoln, exploring different facets of his life and work in each chapter.

Do you have what it takes to run off and join the army, leaving your family behind? That's what John Lincoln Clem, a nine-year-old boy living in Ohio, does as the American Civil War rages on.

Discusses the United States history leading up to and after the Emancipation Proclamation.

"Walter Stahr, award-winning author of the New York Times bestseller Seward, tells the story of Abraham Lincoln's indispensable Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton, the man the president entrusted with raising the army that preserved the Union. Of the crucial men close to President Lincoln, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton (1814-1869) was the most powerful and controversial. Stanton raised, armed, and supervised the army of a million men who won the Civil War. He organized the war effort. He directed military movements from his telegraph office, where Lincoln literally hung out with him. He arrested and imprisoned thousands for "war crimes," such as resisting the draft or calling for an armistice. Stanton was so controversial that some accused him at that time of complicity in Lincoln's assassination. He was a stubborn genius who was both reviled and revered in his time. Stanton was a Democrat before the war and a prominent trial lawyer. He opposed slavery, but only in private. He served briefly as President Buchanan's Attorney General and then as Lincoln's aggressive Secretary of War. On the night of April 14, 1865, Stanton rushed to Lincoln's deathbed and took over the government since Secretary of State William Seward had been critically wounded the same evening. He informed the nation of the President's death, summoned General Grant to protect the Capitol, and started collecting the evidence from those who had been with the Lincolns at the theater in order to prepare a murder trial. Now with this worthy complement to the enduring library of biographical accounts of those who helped Lincoln preserve the Union, Stanton honors the indispensable partner of the sixteenth president. Walter Stahr's essential book is the first major biography of Stanton in fifty years, restoring this underexplored figure to his proper place in American history"--.

Presents the historical context and importance of President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, the document that formally promised freedom to American slaves.

"Though the Emancipation Proclamation is widely thought of as having brought an end to the despicable institution of slavery in the United States, the truth is a bit more complicated. The document actually freed slaves only in the lands in rebellion against the United States, so it had little immediate effect. That said, the proclamation did eventually free millions of people, enable African Americans to become Union soldiers, and make ending slavery one of the stated goals of the war. This volume explains how closely examining those sources gives us a better understanding of historical events and figures"--Provided by publisher.