“My enemies say I am now carrying on this war for the sole purpose of abolition. It is and will be carried on so long as I am President for the sole purpose of restoring the Union. But no human power can subdue this rebellion without using the Emancipation lever as I have done.”

—  Abraham Lincoln

Source: 1860s, Interview with Alexander W. Randall and Joseph T. Mills (1864)

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16th President of the United States 1809–1865

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“But no human power can subdue this rebellion without using the Emancipation lever as I have done.”

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Context: My enemies say I am now carrying on this war for the sole purpose of abolition. It is and will be carried on so long as I am President for the sole purpose of restoring the Union. But no human power can subdue this rebellion without using the Emancipation lever as I have done.

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