"Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation forever changed the course of American history. In Abraham Lincoln and the Road to Emancipation, William Klingaman provides a much-needed popular history of the making of the Emancipation Proclamation and its subsequent impact on race relations in America.".

"Reconstructing the events that led to Lincoln's momentous decision, Klingaman takes his reader in a straightforward chronological narrative from Lincoln's inauguration on March 1, 1861, through the outbreak of the Civil War and the Confederates' early military victories. Despite the Abolitionists' urging, Lincoln was reluctant to issue an edict freeing the slaves lest it alienate loyal border states.

A succession of military reverses led Lincoln to try to obtain congressional approval of gradual, compensated emancipation. But when all his plans failed, Lincoln finally began drafting an emancipation proclamation as a military weapon - what he described as his "last card" against the rebellion.".

"Finally issued on January 1, 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation did not end the war - or slavery - overnight, and Klingaman follows the story through two more years of bloody war before final Union victory and Lincoln's tragic assassination. The book concludes with a brief discussion of how the Emancipation Proclamation - its language and the circumstances in which it was issued - have shaped American history."--BOOK JACKET.