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In November 1864, President Lincoln was re-elected
despite widespread war-weariness in the North. Sherman’s recent
capture of Atlanta gave hope that the Civil War was near its end.
The Great Emancipator nickname referred to Lincoln’s 1862 Emancipation
Proclamation, a sweeping political move that freed slaves in territories
not already under Union control.
Artist Dean Morrissey’s moving portrait captures the
President at the close of the Civil War contemplating an unknown
future for the United States. Lincoln was shot on April 14, 1865,
a mere five days after Robert E. Lee’s surrender to Ulysses S. Grant
at Appomattox Courthouse. He died the next morning. The Great Emancipator,
done with his earthly, practical duties, entered the realm of hero
and legend.
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