Secretary of the Treasury, Salmon Portland Chase, reported that September 1862, President Lincoln commented to his Cabinet after the Confederate Army lost the Battle of Antietam:
“The time for the annunciation of the emancipation policy can no longer be delayed. Public sentiment will sustain it, many of my warmest friends and supporters demand it, and I have promised God that I will do it.”
When asked about the last statement, Lincoln replied:
“I made a solemn vow before God, that if General Lee were driven back from Pennsylvania, I would crown the result by the declaration of freedom to the slaves.”
The Emancipation Proclamation stated:
“I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested as commander-in-chief…do, on the FIRST DAY OF JANUARY, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three…publicly proclaim…that…persons held as slaves…are, and henceforward shall be, free…
And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free to abstain from all violence…and…labor faithfully for reasonable wages.”
Lincoln concluded:
“And upon this act…I invoke…the gracious favor of Almighty God.”
To settle the question as to the constitutionality of his Proclamation and to free slaves in States not in rebellion, Lincoln promoted the 13th Amendment, passed by the House, January 31, 1865, and ratified, December 6, 1865.
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