To those in my party who have recently urged me to take a strong and unambiguous stand on the pressing matter of the day, I must remind you that not all in our party’s ranks have safe congressional districts in which re-election is guaranteed or even likely.
It is with the future of these jeopardized Congressmen in mind — specifically those that represent constituencies who preferred Stephen Douglas in the last election — that I have decided, however reluctantly, not to require the Emancipation Proclamation in any future settlement of the current Civil War.
–Abraham Lincoln
