“That the President will free all the little slave children,” was the words written on a petition given to Abraham Lincoln in 1864 (Swanson 1). These few words and the 195 signatures that accompanied it were enough to touch the president’s heart (Emancipation Proclamation Little People 2). Although the Emancipation Proclamation, a document freeing about 3.1 million slaves in the United States, was issued a year earlier, there were still some people unhappy about it’s effects (Emancipation Proclamation 3). Many abolitionists complained that the Emancipation had not gone far enough (Stowell 9). Other people from the Confederacy hated the Proclamation causing their rebellion to be greater and the war to be worse (Stowell 9). Another group of
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Mr. Lincoln wrote a response to Mary Mann, the “endorser” of this petition (Emancipation Proclamation Little People 6). In this letter, Lincoln asked Mrs. Mann to tell the children that had signed the Petition that he appreciated their worry and care for the slaves of the United States. After completing the letter, Mr. Lincoln gave the letter to Charles Sumner to deliver it to Mary. During this time, Mary Mann was widely known for her influence on education and being the wife of an important abolitionist Horace Mann (Marshall 5, 7). Mary Mann later wrote back to Lincoln and confessed that she had nothing to do with the Petition. In her letter back to Lincoln, she did express that she was looking forward “with more hope than ever for the day when perfect justice shall be decreed” (Emancipation Proclamation Little People 10). Even though the wife of Horace Mann had nothing to do with it, Lincoln was still affected and impressed at the care that students from Massachusetts had. Although the Little People’s Petition didn’t seem to change Abraham Lincoln’s view about slavery, it and other letters helps us understand how the President of the United States and other people in his country felt about slavery
Mr. Lincoln wrote a response to Mary Mann, the “endorser” of this petition (Emancipation Proclamation Little People 6). In this letter, Lincoln asked Mrs. Mann to tell the children that had signed the Petition that he appreciated their worry and care for the slaves of the United States. After completing the letter, Mr. Lincoln gave the letter to Charles Sumner to deliver it to Mary. During this time, Mary Mann was widely known for her influence on education and being the wife of an important abolitionist Horace Mann (Marshall 5, 7). Mary Mann later wrote back to Lincoln and confessed that she had nothing to do with the Petition. In her letter back to Lincoln, she did express that she was looking forward “with more hope than ever for the day when perfect justice shall be decreed” (Emancipation Proclamation Little People 10). Even though the wife of Horace Mann had nothing to do with it, Lincoln was still affected and impressed at the care that students from Massachusetts had. Although the Little People’s Petition didn’t seem to change Abraham Lincoln’s view about slavery, it and other letters helps us understand how the President of the United States and other people in his country felt about slavery