Drawing Exercises

Was dissolution of the Union imminent if Abraham Lincoln would not have acted pursuant to his Art II authority

My question is in regards to Abraham Lincoln exercising his Art II authority to free slaves that remained on plantations.

Public Comments

1. I think you may be a bit confused - the Union had already dissolved, and I won't go into the Emancipation/Article 2 stuff.
2. Abe Lincoln didn't free any slaves before he became president. And the dissolution of the Union actually started before he was instated as president. He didn't try to free any slaves until the Emancipation Proclimation, and that only freed the slaves of the states that had seceeded from the Union. You have some bad info if you think that the Confederacy was created in response to Abraham Lincoln trying to free slaves.
3. As others have stated, the secession of States began before he took office as president. Although he issued the emancipation proclamation [1863] well into the war, it freed no slaves. It only concerned slaves within the States of the Confederacy and then only if the Union Army controlled those States. Finally, there is no Presidential authority within Article II of the Constitution of the United States to free any slaves. This was a power and issue held within the Congress (re: to Article I, Section 9, clauses 1 & 4; and; Article V. Secession of the States was primarily an issue of States' rights and the over reaching of the federal government in manners that were extra-constitutional. That is, the federal government going beyond its delegated powers as envisioned by the Founders. I suggest actually reading the Constitution, it is a short and easy document to read.