...his lasl paragraph he struck for motives to move men. "Fellow-citizens. we cannot escape history, \Vc of this Congress and this administration, will be...significance or insignificance can spare one or another ol us. The fierv trial through which we pass, will light us down, in honor or dishonor, lo the latest...

...December i862 revealed how in his mind military and the moral rationales collapsed into one another. "The fiery trial through which we pass, will light...down, in honor or dishonor, to the latest generation," the President said. "In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free — honorable alike...

...black freedom: he observed that "we cannot escape history," and that the "fiery trial" of the Civil War "will light us down, in honor or dishonor, to the latest generation." Emancipation was the means by which the nation could be reunited, and the "last, best hope of earth"...