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The presence of slavery in the U.S. capital embarrassed government officials sensitive to criticism from Northern abolitionists and from European governments opposed to the institution. The 1860 census numbered 3,185 slaves living in the District of Columbia, owned by 2 per cent of the white population and valued at about two million dollars.

Efforts either to emancipate them or to guarantee their servitude appeared in most of the major compromise measures placed before Congress during the secession crisis but were in each case voted down. Once Southern congressmen resigned to go home, opposition to emancipation fell sharply, as did the number of slaves in the city.

Officially, the civil War was a rebellion, and restoration of the Union was Abraham Lincoln's objective. Though Lincoln opposed slavery, he did not believe that he had authority to act against it. Throughout the war he favored voluntary compensated emancipation and colonization of the slaves once they were released. Concerned about keeping the loyal Border States within the Union, Lincoln was also influenced by the many northerners who opposed any move to free the salves.

Nevertheless, slavery was the cornerstone of the Confederacy, and the issue could not be avoided. Several military commanders tried to liberate slaves, but Lincoln countermanded their orders. Congress also passed several emancipation acts; in April 1862 it abolished slavery in the District of Columbia with compensation, and later in the territories without it.

Gradually Lincoln became convinced that he must take some anti-slavery action to win the war. On 22 September, 1862 he issued a preliminary emancipation proclamation, which stated that on 1 January 1863 slaves in rebellious sections of the country should be free and that the government would not repress those attempting to gain their own freedom.

The Emancipation Proclamation of 1 January, 1863 followed through by declaring that all slaves in rebellious sections were free. The slaves did not rebel militarily but flocked to the Union lines. Thousands joined the Union armed forces, which now accepted their service. No longer did any European nation seriously consider intervention on the side of the Confederacy.

For the loyal slave states, however, Lincoln still favored compensated emancipation. Though none of them accepted his program, by early 1865 Maryland and Missouri had abolished slavery through state enactments. The 13th Amendment to the Constitution, December 1865, outlawed slavery and forced its abolition in Delaware and Kentucky.

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