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Buy yourself some oversimplified merch today, along with a very honest new character pin. Link in the description down below. Okay, Mrs. Lincoln, this is it. One last push, and we're done.
Hang! Nine months. And four days ago, my father brought forth upon my mother himself and gave to her a child conceived in a shack in Kentucky and dedicated to the proposition that I will drink num-nums from a bottle and do little poo-poos in my pants for the next two to three years. Now what does it babies do again? Oh yeah, I am not touching that.
Abraham Lincoln grew up with his relatively poor family in Kentucky, eventually moving to Indiana, and finally, Illinois. He read a lot of books, worked a lot of jobs, wrote some questionable poetry, and finally, entered the law profession. Despite being self-taught, he turned out to be a pretty clever and astute lawyer.
In one case, a guy claimed he witnessed a murder at night, and Lincoln was like, how could you have seen anything in the dark? There was a bright full moon. A what?
A bright full moon. Can you say that again, please? There was a bright full moon.
A dim half moon? No, a bright full moon. That's funny, because according to this almanac, there was a dim half moon that night. Which makes you a liar. Uh, well, I got a bright full moon for y'all right here.
Now that's what I call a rebuttal. Lincoln and his cheekbones weren't only interested in law, however. He also dabbled in the world of politics, serving as a legislator in both local and national assemblies.
And what a time it was. Not even a hundred years after the Founding Fathers wrote, All men are created equal, politicians were already asking, Yeah, but what does that mean exactly? It means all men.
Yeah, but what does that mean exactly? And not just that. States'rights versus the federal government.
What are the executive powers of the president? Is cereal a soup? The Founding Fathers left some of these questions perhaps a little too open to interpretation.
And the biggest question of them all was slavery. An ugly mark on what should have been a revolutionary new nation based on liberty and democracy. Thomas Jefferson had written a condemnation of slavery in the Declaration of Independence, but out of fear of losing southern states'support, it was removed.
Hey guys, do you think leaving this a little vague will create any unforeseen problems in the future? Cannonball! And those unforeseen problems were now beginning to rear their ugly heads. As the nation developed, the North and the South developed along two very different lines. and two very different cultural identities emerged.
Northern cities began rapidly industrializing, while the southern climate allowed for large plantations of labor-intensive crops. As a result, one half of the country didn't rely on slaves, while the other half had become economically dependent on them. In 1793, Eli Whitney's cotton gin caused the slave trade in the South to explode. While in the North, a growing abolitionist movement was taking root.
A general mistrust began to develop between the North and the South. as northerners felt the South were hell-bent on expanding slavery and fear spread throughout the South that the North wanted to take their slaves away. In 1819, there were 11 free states and 11 slave states.
A perfect balance. A happy medium. A harmonious relationship. Hey guys, nice to meet you. I'm Missouri, and I would like to become the 23rd state.
Hey buddy, welcome to the nation. We'll be happy to accept you as a free state. Oh no you don't. You're trying to get one over on us. Missouri's gonna be a slave state.
Okay, listen. Why don't we just ask Missouri what it wants to be, and we-Slave state. Well, then, uh, allow me to introduce to you the newest, freshest state on the scene.
Maine. Hey, you can't do that. And you can't have any more slave states above this line. What? The issue of slavery is solved, and it will never come up again.
A few years later, it came up again. You see, as America expanded westward, each new state or territory that was added threatened to upend the delicate balance between the slave and free states. If one faction managed to outnumber the other, it could gain an easy majority and force its own ideals on the opposing side, leaving a huge portion of the population feeling spiteful and oppressed. For a while, Compromises kicked the can down the road and kept the volatile balance in check, as new free and slave states were roughly added in pairs. But then one loudmouth state just had to barge in and ruin everything as usual.
The addition of Texas saw the United States enter into a war with Mexico, which they won, gaining a huge amount of land out west and creating even more problems. Hey guys, nice to meet you. I'm California, and I would like to become the 31st state.
Hey buddy, welcome to the nation. We'll be happy to accept you as a Southern slave state. Oh no you don't!
You're trying to get one over on us. California is going to be a free state. Okay, listen.
Why don't we just ask California what it wants to be, and we can-Free state. Well, then, uh... Allow me to introduce to you the territories of New Mexico and Utah, able to freely vote for slavery themselves. Hey!
You can't do that! And we can enter Northern territory anytime we want to recapture escaped slaves. What?! The issue of slavery is solved, and it will never come up again.
A few years later, it came up again. In 1854, a Democratic senator from Illinois wanted to build a really cool choo-choo train here and proposed that the territories of Kansas and Nebraska be created open to slavery, even though they were clearly above the Missouri Compromise Line. Obviously, the Northern states were like, hell no! But the Southern Democrats who controlled Congress at the time were like, well, if you love liberty and democracy so much, then you should let them vote on whether slavery should be legal or not.
And so it was. Huge numbers of pro-and anti-slavery settlers rushed to Kansas to sway the vote in their favor. And while they were all there, they began to beat the crap out of each other. One of those settlers was a man named John Brown, a former businessman who failed at just about everything he tried and went arguably insane.
He was a radical abolitionist and dedicated much of his life to the Underground Railroad and freeing slaves. One night, in revenge for an earlier raid by pro-slavery forces, he and his sons killed a number of pro-slavery settlers in the territory, helping to kickstart years of violence known as Bleeding Kansas. Kansas and Nebraska both eventually voted in favor of outlawing slavery.
But from here, the tension began to grow at a rapid pace. In 1852, author Harriet Beecher Stowe penned Uncle Tom's Cabin, a best-selling novel that exposed the terrible cruelty of slavery to the world. Oh, how awful. How morally corrupt a nation must be to allow such things to happen. Your Majesty, what should we do about all the starving children working in the coal mines?
Nothing! In 1854, the Republican Party was formed. and Abraham Lincoln emerged as a leading figure.
Southern Democrats viewed the new Republican Party with mistrust, believing it to be radical and abolitionist. In 1856, a politician named Charles Sumner gave a speech in Congress, calling out slave-owning Democrats with fiery language. If slavery was a woman, she'd be an ugly one, and the senator from South Carolina would like to boink her. Representative Brooks, do you have a rebuttal?
Oh, I have a rebuttal, all right. Yeah, here's a rebuttal for you. Oh come on, surely this isn't allowed? Hmm, I don't know. I'll have to consult the rulebook.
Hmm, I can't find anything about caning a political opponent. But it says here I'm not allowed to wear a woman's underwear. Uh-oh. News of the violence on the Senate floor took the nation by storm.
Southern slave owners sent Representative Brooks new canes to replace his now broken one. And on the floors of Congress, politicians carried weapons in self-defense. Which is never a good sign.
In 1857, The Supreme Court ruled in the Dred Scott case that all people of African descent, slave or free, could not be citizens and therefore could not sue for their own freedom under any circumstances, undoing years of progress with the strike of a gavel. Now, within all this bitter debate over slavery, there were many nuances. North versus South, Republican versus Democrat, States versus the federal government.
But let's strip all of that away. For 4 million individuals living in America, this wasn't about political intrigue. or party alignment.
It was about the basic human right to be free. Men, women, and children were stolen from their homelands and brought to the American continent, where for generations they were considered to be property, forced to live in poverty, and work from sunrise to sunset. Plantation overseers did whatever they felt was necessary to get the most out of their slaves. Punishments were often barbaric. Families were regularly separated, and parents could often only watch, as their children were auctioned off, never to be seen again.
Thousands of slaves took the treacherous risk of running away. And abolitionists in the North helped many escape by the underground railroad, as bounty hunters entered the North to chase them down. Leading figures within the abolitionist movement included many significant free black men and women.
But it's important to note that for many of the anti-slavery white individuals in the North, opposition to slavery was often an economic issue, not a moral one, as many worried large plantations would take their lands and livelihoods away. Abraham Lincoln knew that slavery was a moral evil. and he regularly spoke out against it in powerful speeches that helped him rise through the ranks of the new Republican Party. He lamented at the hypocrisy of a great American nation meant to stand as a shining beacon of freedom while also enslaving 4 million men, women, and children.
He most famously declared in 1858 that a house divided against itself cannot stand, that one day slavery in America would end. However, even Lincoln was cautious in his opposition. He didn't want to outlaw it entirely, but simply prevent its expansion so that given enough time, he believed it would naturally die out.
Thankfully, history would force his hand. In October 1859, one abolitionist decided he'd try to single-handedly take down slavery by force. Who would be crazy enough to even attempt such a thing? Ah, it's our good friend John Brown. He planned to seize arms from an armory in the town of Harper's Ferry, free the slaves there, and continue south, inciting a major slave uprising along the way, and noble cause, a bad plan, and terrible execution.
Brown's men took the armory and some hostages, but were quickly surrounded by one Robert E. Lee and his U.S. Marines. Brown was captured, and a couple of months later, he was executed for treason. Northerners sympathized with Brown, but Southerners were like, You see this? They're coming for us.
Soon, there'll be a million John Browns. A million John Browns? What on earth are you thinking about? A John Brown farm? Yeah, me too.
To make matters worse, new northern free states meant now the southern states really were outnumbered and they were beginning to feel bitterly spiteful and oppressed. Further fear began to spread in the south when news broke that a relatively unknown figure had just secured the Republican Party nomination for president. Abraham Lincoln, mostly well-liked among anti-slavery northerners, had made some of the most powerfully worded speeches against slavery of any politician at the time.
And now, there was a chance that he, and his cheekbones, could become president. For the south, that... would be too much.
In the 1860 election, Lincoln's name didn't even appear on the ballot in 10 southern states. But much to their horror, when the final results came in, Lincoln had won by an electoral college landslide. Lincoln himself tried to calm their fear. How many times do I have to tell you, I'm not gonna take away your slaves? Yeah right, honest Abe.
We've had enough of you northerners. We're gonna go form our own country. You can't do that! Why not? Well, if you had won the election, would it be okay for us to leave?
Of course not. Well, why not? Because that's not how victim mentality works. Many states felt that when they joined the Union, they always withheld the right to leave it whenever they pleased. Many people living in 19th century America often felt more loyalty to their state than to the nation.
And now, with the South feeling like it had lost its voice in the federal government, they were out of here. South Carolina was the first to go, and over a period of six months, one by one, 11 slave states officially seceded from the Union, with just... four contested border states opting to remain. The seceding states issued a number of official documents justifying their secession.
South Carolina proclaimed that it was northern states'hostility to slavery that rendered the federal government illegitimate. Mississippi declared that their position was thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery. And in a speech, the Confederate vice president stated that the new Confederate government rested upon what he called the great truth of racial inequality.
revered American generals such as Robert E. Lee opted to side with their states over the Union. And with all the chaos, one New York lawyer wrote that rather than a bold eagle, America's national bird should be a debilitated chicken. And hey, I kinda like that.
One man, watching the crisis unfold, knew it would be his job to solve it. Lincoln was just about to hop on a train and become the President of the United States of America. Hey man, you're hella ugly.
Grow a beard or something to hide that face. Good idea. Hmm?
Eh, still ugly. With assassination plots already underway, Lincoln had to travel to Washington, D.C. under heavy disguise and protection. All along the way, he received stacks of threatening letters. May the hand of the devil strike you down.
You are destroying this country. Damn you, every breath you take. Love from Grandma. At his inauguration speech, Lincoln once again reiterated that, no, I do not want to take away anyone's slaves.
But for Lincoln, he did want to preserve the union. He declared secession to be nothing but an illegitimate rebellion. In your hands and not in mine, he said, is the momentous issue of civil war.
You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. We are not enemies, but friends. It was clear Lincoln was ready and willing to get freaky and open up a can of Scatman John if he had to.
Whether he had the support of the people, however, was in question. In the end, it was the Confederates that fired the first shot. As they seceded, the Confederate states began seizing federal U.S. property. Throughout the South, off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina, was one such federal property, Fort Sumter, held by a measly, undersupplied U.S. force.
The Confederate militia there demanded the fort's surrender, a request which was quickly denied, and any remaining hope for a peaceful solution to the secession crisis probably then died when the Confederates did this. The Battle of Fort Sumter is considered to be the beginning of the American Civil War. Many of the Confederates there also considered it to be the end. of the American Civil War.
They hoped Old Abe would just sigh and say, okay, you win. Unfortunately for them, Lincoln actually said, you're about to get a roundhouse to the face. Lincoln sent out the call for 75,000 volunteers and men signed up in droves, hopeful for some adventure and good old-fashioned F-U-N.
In the new Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, Confederate President Jefferson Davis and his cheekbones had also sent out the call for 100,000 men. As ever, both sides hoped for a quick end to the war. Is it over yet? No, Jimmy, it's been one week. Is it over now?
No. How about now? If you ask that one more time, I swear I will turn this army around and you'll all have to go back home to your wives and children. But in particular, the South knew the conflict would pose a bit of a challenge. How can we expect to win with a population of only 5 million against 22 million in the North?
If you count us 4 million slaves, you'd have 9 million. Great idea. Hand these rifles out to Old Mool.
Wait a minute. You almost had me there. The problem for Lincoln was that many of his top generals were getting old and were being a bit too cautious.
The commanding general was a man named Winfield Scott, a veteran of the Mexican-American War. And by now, he was too fat to even mount a horse. Okay, chaps, we need to come up with a plan. Hit me. We could wait for the Confederates to come and apologize.
Maybe we should all sit in a circle and discuss our feelings. Crossing the Delaware into New Jersey worked for me. Those are all terrible ideas.
And you, wrong video. Hey, I'm the greatest president in the history of this nation. Yeah, we'll see about that, dingus.
Eventually, Lincoln's generals came up with a multi-pronged strategy. First, a blockade would cut off and starve the south of supplies by sea. Secondly, taking control of the Great Mississippi River would sever the south's economic artery while splitting it in two. And finally, a main Union force in the east would move south and take the Confederate capital, ending the war. Bada-boom, bada-bing.
Skirmishes began to break out across the nation, and the Union army in the east began to move south towards Richmond. Everything seemed to be going well until they reached Manassas, where they came upon a large Confederate force. It's almost like they were waiting for us!
How did they know? As it turned out, spies in DC had sent a coded message to the Confederates warning of the invasion. Did you use NordVPN? What the heck is NordVPN? I'm so glad you asked.
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So thank you. Now, where were we? Oh yeah, secession, fat man, and the union invasion into Virginia. The two sides encountered each other at Manassas, and both geared up for the first major battle of the Civil War.
The First Battle of Bull Run. The Confederates rapidly brought in support by a rail, and the two sides were about equal in numbers. However, they were also equally inexperienced.
A large number of civilians also rode out by carriage from D.C. to picnic on the nearby hills and watch the excitement unfold. Nobody seemed to quite understand how destructive this war was going to be. The Union forces pulled a flanking maneuver to hit the Confederates on their left, and the two sides fired on each other in rows.
Farm families living in the area were forced to flee the fighting, including a man named Wilmer McLean. Hurry up, Martha! There's a war out here!
The more you tell me to hurry up, the slower I will go! The Union force saw initial success pushing the Confederates back to Henry Hill, but one as-of-yet fairly unknown General Thomas Jackson had arrived, and he took a defensive position. standing firm like a stone wall, holding the Union army off, and finally sending them running back to Washington, D.C. With heavy casualties, the sobering reality of war hit both sides hard, and the North, having just lost the first major battle, had to face the serious prospect that they may not actually win this war.
President Lincoln, General Jackson whipped us so hard, the Confederates are calling him Stonewall Jackson. Wait, that's why they're calling him that? Not because he looks like he ran face-first into a stone wall? Apparently not.
Worse yet. The North had also lost the first major battle out West, giving away control of Southwest Missouri. All of this was terrible news for Abraham Lincoln, especially since many of his generals and cabinet already didn't have much respect for him. They felt he was incapable of running a war, because he seemed a bit like your friendly old grandpa. He famously loved a long-winded story and a good pun.
I've been so busy, my wife is missing me, but her aim is starting to improve. But deep down, View realized he could also be incredibly shrewd. Oh, Abe, you're so funny. Funny how? Funny like I'm a clown?
Uh, Abe, I was just... No, no, funny how? Like I'm here to amuse you? During the war, Lincoln committed acts that were viewed by some as impeachable. His administration suppressed the free media from printing articles sympathetic towards the South.
Some Southern sympathizers were even arrested without a trial. Lincoln's criticizers began accusing him of being a tyrant. But to quote the man himself, Hey, it's war, baby. What are you gonna do? By the end of 1861, With things already looking bad for the North, abolitionists such as Frederick Douglass couldn't believe that the Union army weren't enlisting black men.
He continued to put pressure on Lincoln to make the war about emancipation. Mr. President, it's time to make the war about emancipation. Hmm, I don't want to ruffle any feathers. The feathers are already ruffled!
But Lincoln, hanging on to hope for a quick end to the conflict, continued to fight only for the preservation of the Union. It was decided, however, that escaped slaves from the Confederacy could be held as enemy contraband, and many of these men were put to work bolstering the Union's infrastructure and supply lines. Hoping to get things moving, Lincoln made young General George McClellan the new commanding general, and McClellan began to train up his men. He thought a lot of himself, however, and believed he was going to be the nation's great savior. And like many others, he didn't approve of the President's handling of the war.
On one occasion, Lincoln went to McClellan's house to meet with him, but McClellan was late returning home. He kept the president waiting, and when he finally got there, he just straight up went to bed. Now that's what I call disrespectful. McClellan talked the talk, but could he walk the walk?
No. Like Lincoln's other generals, McClellan was maddeningly cautious. Hey man, could you move south and attack the enemy? What? Are you crazy?
What if they have a big scary army down there? They probably do. What? Oh my gosh! McClellan worried that he did not have the numbers he needed to fight effectively.
What if they have like 10,000 men? Okay, no problem, we'll get you 20,000 men. Well, what if they have 30,000 men?
I'll need 40. Okay, you can have 40. Well, what if they have 50? I'll need 60. Lincoln tried, but it was all in vain. McClellan would not make a move for the rest of the year.
The North's one saving grace for now was a general out west fighting in Kentucky and Tennessee, General Ulysses S. Grant, cool, collected, methodical, and a big fan of whiskey. His chief of staff took it upon himself to keep Grant sober. One officer said that Grant habitually wore an expression as though he were determined to drive his head through a brick wall and was about to do it. And that determination led him to score a number of key victories when others around him were failing.
At the Battle of Fort Donelson, Grant was like, Why does Stonewall Jackson get a cool nickname and I don't? I want a cool nickname. Sir, the Confederates say they're ready to surrender and want to know your terms.
No terms, just Unconditional Surrender. Hey, Unconditional Surrender Grant. That's a pretty cool nickname, right?
Guys, right? Later in April 1862, the Confederates launched a sudden attack on Grant's army at Shiloh, but the determined, unconditional Surrender Grant threw his lines at the rebels and sent them running. The battle resulted in the heaviest casualties in U.S. history so far, and despite his victory, Grant found himself under fire.
You have to get rid of Grant. Why? Didn't he win? Yes, but he just threw his man at the enemy. Isn't that the point?
Also, he's a loony drunk. Well, what does he like to drink? I believe whiskey, sir.
Then send him more. Lincoln watched as his cabinet did nothing but bicker and his generals did nothing. But then, worst of all, personal tragedy struck. Lincoln's young son, Willie, very much loved by the president, died of typhoid fever at the age of 11. Lincoln was a sensitive man and was heavily affected by the loss. His wife was inconsolable.
But one of Lincoln's greatest traits, what made him such a great leader, was in the darkest of times, with composure and determination, he kept moving forward. He knew it was his responsibility to hold himself and his family together. And by doing so, he hoped to hold the nation together.
And he had had it with McClellan's inaction. Lincoln decided he was going to take control. In March 1862, Lincoln firmly ordered McClellan to once again move south towards Richmond.
McClellan insisted instead they move by sea to the Virginia Peninsula and attack Richmond from the southeast. Yes, said Lincoln. Okay, anything.
Lincoln held on to some of McClellan's men to defend DC from a nearby Stonewall Jackson wreaking havoc in the Shenandoah Valley, and he sent McClellan south. McClellan landed on the peninsula, and he began to move inland. He came up against a small Confederate army that had dug in at Yorktown. McClellan vastly outnumbered the force, but it's said that Confederate General Magruder deceived McClellan by cleverly maneuvering his smaller force and making McClellan believe he faced a huge army. No, you have way more men than them.
Move forward. No. McClellan settled in for a month-long siege, giving time for Johnston to move south from Manassas and Magruder time to retreat.
When he finally entered the city and found it deserted, he declared it a victory, calling his success brilliant. Then, after meeting some resistance at Williamsburg, McClellan moved to within just 20 miles of Richmond, his armies able to hear the church bells ringing in the enemy capital. You still outnumber them. Go give them hell.
No. McClellan once again held back, moving slowly and defensively. And with his army split in two, the Confederates saw an opportunity to strike back.
McClellan's advance was halted, and now the Confederates pulled an ace out of their sleeve. General Lee, you're up. Do you think we should evacuate Richmond?
No, Mr. President. No need. General Robert E. Lee, one of the most brilliant military commanders of the time, was now in charge.
One of his biggest strengths was his ability to read the mind of his enemy, and he knew McClellan was cautious and weak. After moving Stonewall Jackson south to join him, and even though he had a smaller army, Lee hit McClellan in a series of fast-paced, close combat battles that had McClellan spooked. McClellan retreated the Union army back again and again and again, escaping the peninsula and returning to DC.
Lee had defeated McClellan and the campaign had failed. Well that was a major success. A success?
Tell me exactly what was successful about that. Well, we successfully retreated. You lost. I didn't lose. I merely failed to win.
Things just kept looking worse for the North. At least their navy had seen some success, capturing a number of key port cities, notably when they steamrolled past Confederate forts to take New Orleans. And speaking of the navy, both sides had begun using ironclads. So that's pretty cool. But in the east, they still weren't having any luck.
After McClellan's disastrous campaign, Lincoln briefly sent out one General John Pope to attack Northern Virginia. Hey man, just checking in, how's it going? Well, the Confederates kicked my butt at Cedar Mountain, then they raided my camp and ran off with my money and clothes.
Also, I appear to have been wedgied. Lee defeated Pope at yet another battle at Bull Run, in which nearby farm families once again got caught up in the fighting. Hurry up, Martha! There's another war out here!
I'm waiting for my hair to dry! Wilmer McLean, sick of war, moved his family south, where he knew the war would definitely, absolutely never touch him again. But Lincoln had yet another problem to contend with. European powers, in particular, the UK were looking increasingly like they may intervene diplomatically on the side of the Confederates. They were missing their precious supply of southern cotton because of the Union blockade, and they wanted to see a swift conclusion to the war.
The tension between America and Great Britain had been increasing, especially after Confederate diplomats were discovered on a British ship. Now, after McClellan's failure to take Richmond, the UK declared it impossible for the North to win. Lincoln needed something to prevent Europe from getting involved, and after more petitioning from abolitionists, he decided maybe the time was finally right to make the war about ending the institution he hated, slavery.
If the North had a noble cause to fight for, Europe would be less likely to intervene. But Lincoln and his cabinet knew before they could declare something as radical as emancipation, they needed a victory, especially now that the Confederates were about to go on the attack. Aware that he had a limited number of men and supplies, Lee now hoped that if he could just threaten Washington DC militarily, he would gain Europe's recognition and crush Northern morale in time for the midterm elections, forcing the North to negotiate. With confidence at an all-time high, for the first time, Robert E. Lee invaded the North.
But on September 13th, the North finally had some luck. Oh boy, it's my lucky day! A cigar in a field! Hey, what's this wrapped around?
Oh my gosh! That's right. The North had discovered General Lee's battle plans wrapped around some cigars.
And in them, they saw that Lee had split up his forces. McClellan headed out from D.C. And the two sides met in the Battle of Antietam, a crucial battle that would decide the course of the war.
It saw the most vicious fighting to date, and still remains the single bloodiest day in American history. But for once, the North came out victorious, and Lee was forced to retreat. He's on the run.
Chase him down. and finish him off. No.
You know what, old buddy, old pal? You're fired. The North had won their crucial victory.
Lincoln breathed a huge sigh of relief, and with that win, he was prepared to take a huge step. On September 22nd, the Emancipation Proclamation was issued. In January, all slaves held in the Confederate States would be, as far as the U.S. government was concerned, officially free. Throughout the North, Free black men and women rejoiced, knowing that if the North were to win, their brothers and sisters would no longer be held in bondage. The proclamation also had the intended effect on Europe, who were not willing to oppose a pledge to end slavery.
An outraged Confederacy knew that Lincoln had given the war a new meaning. It was no longer just about the preservation of union. Now it was about creating a new union, washed clean of its original sin. A union without slavery.