IV. We Cannot Escape History Summary and Analysis

"Making Our Advantage an Over-match for His" - In this letter to General Don Carlos Buell, Lincoln demonstrates his increasing acumen for military strategy. He correctly asserts that the key to a Union victory is to exploit its advantage in sheer numbers, a strategy that would be successfully employed by General Grant in 1864. Lincoln also calls attention to wresting control of East Tennessee from the Confederacy, one of his key objectives in the war.

"Gradual Emancipation is Better for All" - Lincoln attempts to persuade Congress to pass a law giving financial aid to any state which instituted a policy of gradual emancipation, of gradual abolition of slavery. In his address, Lincoln stresses that the war is an "indispensable" means to an end: the integrity of the Union.

"But You Must Act" -...