Ramtin Arablui
👤 SpeakerAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
This is America in Pursuit, a limited-run series from ThruLine and NPR.
Each week, we bring you stories about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in the U.S.
that began 250 years ago this year.
Today, we're going back to one of the most significant moments in US history, the Civil War, one of the bloodiest wars fought on American soil.
At the heart of the war was the question of slavery and whether to abolish it.
The Confederate South broke off from the Union because it wanted to keep slavery and the freedom to govern themselves.
The Union in the North, led by President Abraham Lincoln, wanted to make slavery illegal and keep the United States together.
A little less than two years into the bloody conflict, on January 1st, 1863, President Lincoln made a bold proclamation.
The Emancipation Proclamation was a major flex in federal power.
Lincoln spells out new terms of peace.
The fighting would only end when slavery ended.
This was a risky move because the union was gearing up for a presidential election, and not everyone in the union agreed with Lincoln's hardline views on abolition.
and how to fight the war.
The election would take place in the middle of the war.
It would test the young republic's ability to hold an election in times of duress and shape the outcome of the war.
Today on the show, Rund and I bring you the story of how the 1864 election changed how we vote and who we are as a country.
That's coming up after a quick break.
After issuing the Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln briefly considers walking it back.
Lincoln doubles down on his ideals as he gears up for the 1864 presidential election, an election where there are deep ideological and cultural divides.