Lesson 6.07

Letter to a Citizen of Kentucky, an excerpt

Executive Mansion, Washington,
April 4, 1864.
A. G. Hodges, Esq., Frankfort, Ky.

My Dear Sir:
You ask me to put in writing the substance of what I verbally stated the other day, in your presence, to Governor Bramlette and Senator Dixon. It was about as follows:
I am naturally anti-slavery. If slavery is not wrong nothing is wrong. I cannot remember when I did not so think and feel; and yet I have never understood that the Presidency conferred upon me an unrestricted right to act officially in this judgment and feeling. It was in the oath I took that I would to the best of my ability preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. I could not take the office without taking the oath. Nor was it in my view that I might take the oath to get power, and break the oath in using the power.
I understood, too, that in ordinary civil administration this oath even forbade me to practically indulge my primary abstract judgment on the moral question of slavery. I had publicly declared this many times and in many ways; and I aver that, to this day I have done no official act in mere deference to my abstract judgment and feeling on slavery. I did understand, however, that my oath to preserve the Constitution to the best of my ability imposed upon me the duty of preserving, by every indispensable means, that government, that nation, of which that Constitution was the organic law. Was it possible to lose the nation, and yet preserve the Constitution?
By general law, life and limb must be protected; yet often a limb must be amputated to save a life, but a life is never wisely given to save a limb. I felt that measures, otherwise unconstitutional, might become lawful by becoming indispensable to the preservation of the Constitution through the preservation of the nation. Right or wrong, I assumed this ground, and now avow it. I could not feel that to the best of my ability I had even tried to preserve the Constitution, if, to save slavery, or any minor matter, I should permit the wreck of government, country, and Constitution altogether.
When, early in the war, General Fremont attempted military emancipation, I forbade it, because I did not then think it an indispensable necessity. When, a little later, General Cameron, then Secretary of War, suggested the arming of the blacks, I objected, because I did not yet think it an indispensable necessity. When, still later, General Hunter attempted military emancipation, I forbade it, because I did not yet think the indispensable necessity had come. When, in March and May and July, 1862, I made earnest and successive appeals to the Border States to favor compensated emancipation, I believed the indispensable necessity for military emancipation and arming the blacks would come, unless averted by that measure. They declined the proposition; and I was, in my best judgment, driven to the alternative of either surrendering the Union, and with it the Constitution, or of laying strong hand upon the colored element. I chose the latter. In choosing it, I hoped for greater gain than loss; but of this I was not entirely confident...

Yours truly,

A. Lincoln

1) Read this sentence from the text:

I understood, too, that in ordinary civil administration this oath even forbade me to practically indulge my primary abstract judgment on the moral question of slavery.

Which is the best substitution for Lincoln's term primary abstract judgment? (4 points)

a)Best guesses

b)Intimations

c)True feelings

d)Vows

2) Read this sentence from the text:

I had publicly declared this many times and in many ways; and I aver that, to this day I have done no official act in mere deference to my abstract judgment and feeling on slavery.
Based on the context, what is the best replacement for the word aver? (4 points)


a)Ascertain

b)Certify

c)Instruct

d)Learn

3) When Lincoln asks if it is possible to lose the nation, and yet preserve the Constitution . . . what is he referring to? (4 points)


a)The certainty that abiding by the law would do nothing to stop the war

b)The certainty that abolishing slavery would bring the war to a peaceful end

c)The possibility of abiding by the law while destroying the nation through war

d)The possibility of abolishing slavery yet continuing to fight an unjust war

4)How can the text often a limb must be amputated to save a life, but a life is never wisely given to save a limb best be interpreted? (4 points)


a)If you cut off one bad part, you run the risk of killing the entire body.

b)It is never wise to get rid of one bad part to save the larger whole.

c)It is often necessary to get rid of one bad part to save the larger whole.

d)It is often necessary to let an entire body die rather than cutting off a limb.

5) What is the context for this document? (4 points)


a)A letter explaining an earlier comment

b)A speech given at a dinner party

c)A commentary on a piece of legislation

d)An explanation of an earlier document

6) What was Lincoln's point in listing all the times he refused to allow military emancipation? (4 points)


a)To remind the reader of his many attempts that failed

b)To report on efforts made up to that point

c)To suggest he had considered the option carefully

d)To support the efforts of the states to gain control

7) Which line from the letter expresses Lincoln's doubt in his course of action? (4 points)


a)I could not feel that to the best of my ability I had even tried to preserve the Constitution.

b)I believed the indispensable necessity for military emancipation.

c)I hoped for greater gain than loss; but of this I was not entirely confident.

d)I objected, because I did not yet think it an indispensable necessity.

8)What does the letter suggest Lincoln believed was his primary responsibility with regard to the issue of slavery?

Be sure to use evidence from the text to support your answer.

The Emancipation Proclamation, excerpt
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President of the United States of America, and Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy thereof, do hereby proclaim and declare that hereafter, as heretofore, the war will be prosecuted for the object of practically restoring the constitutional relation between the United States, and each of the States, and the people thereof, in which States that relation is, or may be, suspended or disturbed.

That it is my purpose, upon the next meeting of Congress to again recommend the adoption of a practical measure tendering pecuniary aid to the free acceptance or rejection of all slave States, so called, the people whereof may not then be in rebellion against the United States and which States may then have voluntarily adopted, or thereafter may voluntarily adopt, immediate or gradual abolishment of slavery within their respective limits; and that the effort to colonize persons of African descent, with their consent, upon this continent, or elsewhere, with the previously obtained consent of the Governments existing there, will be continued.

That on the first day of January in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State, or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom.

That the executive will, on the first day of January aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the States, and part of States, if any, in which the people thereof respectively, shall then be in rebellion against the United States; and the fact that any State, or the people thereof shall, on that day be, in good faith represented in the Congress of the United States, by members chosen thereto, at elections wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such State shall have participated, shall, in the absence of strong countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such State and the people thereof, are not then in rebellion against the United States.

That attention is hereby called to an Act of Congress entitled "An Act to make an additional Article of War" approved March 13, 1862, and which act is in the words and figure following:

''Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That hereafter the following shall be promulgated as an additional article of war for the government of the army of the United States, and shall be obeyed and observed as such:

Article -. All officers or persons in the military or naval service of the United States are prohibited from employing any of the forces under their respective commands for the purpose of returning fugitives from service or labor, who may have escaped from any persons to whom such service or labor is claimed to be due, and any officer who shall be found guilty by a court-martial of violating this article shall be dismissed from the service.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect from and after its passage."

9)Read this text from the Emancipation Proclamation:

"...in the absence of strong countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such State and the people thereof are not then in rebellion against the United States."

What does the word conclusive mean in this context? (4 points)



a)At the end of processes

b)For the benefit of many

c)To the exclusion of doubt

d)With the effect of forgiveness

10) Which word most clearly and correctly describes the tone of this text? (4 points)


a)Informal

b)Firm

c)Militaristic

d)Political

11) What is the premise of the following text?

"...and the executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom." (4 points)


a)The U.S. government intends to continue the practice of slavery.

b)The U.S. government intends to recognize blacks as free citizens.

c)The U.S. military will not be required to recognize freed slaves.

d)The U.S. military is hereby required to allow blacks to serve.

12) Review the opening paragraph of the proclamation.

How does this opening paragraph set the tone for the remainder of the document?

13) Read this sentence from Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address:
It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces; but let us judge not that we be not judged.

What does the word wringing mean as used in this sentence? (4 points)


a)Painfully extracting

b)Simply getting

c)Strongly twisting

d)Thoughtfully suggesting

14) Read this sentence from Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address:
One-eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed generally over the Union, but localized in the southern part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that this interest was somehow the cause of the war.

What does the word peculiar mean? (4 points)



a)Common

b)Notable

c)Typical

d)Unusual


15) Read this sentence from Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address:
. . . let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan - to do all which may achieve and cherish a just, and a lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations

Which of the following best describes the effect of the phrase bind up the nation's wounds? (4 points)


a)It implies a caring approach to ending the war.

b)It implies a medical, scientific response to war.

c)It suggests a spreading infectious thought.

d)It suggests restricting the South during recovery.

16) Read this sentence from Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address:
Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said "the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.

Which of the following best explains the effect of the phrase until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword? (4 points)


a)It creates a sense of honored fairness.

b)It creates a sense of sorrow and grief.

c)It suggests a feeling of suffering and pain.

d)It suggests a much-deserved justice.

Holy smoke! Do you really expect someone to take this test for you??

First of all, you need to look up every single word you are not 100% sure of. Every one!

http://www.answers.com
or
http://www.dictionary.com

For #1, do you know what all three words in the phrase in question mean? "primary abstract judgment"?

For #2, do you know what "aver" means?

Etc.

Post what YOUR answers are, and someone here may be able to check them for you. But no guessing! It's very obvious when someone is guessing on tests like this.

Just don't know

Would 1 be A?

No. 1 is not A.

@Ms.Sue can you help me?

Sure.

How would you like me to help you?

@Ms.Sue I don't know how to do it and I tried looking up the definitions for the words, can you explain how I can solve problems like these?

In number 1 you need to find the best meaning for primary abstract judgment in that sentence.

Lincoln said that he could not use his it on the moral question of slavery.

It can't be A because guesses doesn't fit with the meanings of the other words.

It can't be B because intimations means hints.

C looks like a good choice. Lincoln's true feelings could be that he couldn't morally support slavery, but as President of the whole country, he couldn't say much publicly against slavery.

Obviously, vows (promises) doesn't fit.

Now you take apart the next four statements and find what you think are the best answers. If you post them, I'll check them.

2)a

3)b
4)a