“If I could save the Union without freeing any slaves,” he wrote, “I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that.”

Abraham Lincoln

In reality, he could not save the Union except by WAR and ignoring the Constitution. And he did it.

“If I could save the Union without freeing any slaves,” he wrote, “I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that.”

Abraham Lincoln