“I should be damned in Time and Eternity,” Abraham Lincoln said. No president has ever faced more difficult decisions than Abraham Lincoln. Sentries fell asleep and were condemned to death; their mothers asked for presidential pardons. Boastful generals lost major battles, and the public screamed for their scalps. Foreign powers sought to exploit the nation’s weakness. The list went on and on. Two choices loomed especially large: the decision to fight over Fort Sumter in April 1861, and the decision to emancipate slaves in January 1863.

Speaker: Richard Schwartz, Author and Historian

Presented by North Jersey Civil War Round Table

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