While President Abraham Lincoln understood that total Union victory on the battlefield would end slavery, his administration consistently worked with Unionist governments established in former Confederate held states and with Congress to legislate against slavery. On Wednesday, April 6, 1864 a New Orleans, Louisiana, Unionist state constitutional convention abolished slavery within that state. And two days later in Washington, D.C., the United States Senate passed a joint resolution, abolishing slavery within the nation, and approved the Thirteenth Amendment. There was little opposition within Congress to the amendment; just as the military was seeking total victory on the battlefield, Congress was contributing to the war effort by legally abolishing the institution of slavery. The war aims of the Northern government relative to slavery seemed in perfect harmony to most observers.
00000174-b11b-ddc3-a1fc-bfdbb1a20000The Schreiner University Department of History is honoring the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War with a series of short vignettes focusing on events from 1861 through 1865. The Civil War was the most destructive conflict in American history, but it was also one of our most defining moments as a people and as a nation. Let us know what you think about "This Week in the Civil War." E-mail your comments to Dr. John Huddleston at jhuddles@schreiner.edu.Airs: Weekdays at 5:19 a.m., 8:19 a.m., 4:19 p.m. on KTXI and 4:49 a.m., 9:29 p.m. on KSTX.