Abraham Lincoln and Horace Greeley
On August 19, 1862, Horace Greeley, the influential editor of the New York Tribune, published an open letter (“The Prayer of Twenty Millions”) calling on Lincoln to free the slaves as a way of weakening the Confederacy. In response to Greeley’s editorial, Lincoln stated that his main purpose was to preserve the Union, and, to achieve that goal, he was prepared to free none, some, or all of the slaves, depending on the circumstances. Lincoln’s letter prepared the public to accept the Emancipation Proclamation, which he still had not issued.
Click the link below to read Greeley’s original article as published and Lincoln’s reply.