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Emancipation War: The Fall of Slavery and the Coming of the Thirteenth Amendment
Speaking to a fractured country for the first time as president, Abraham Lincoln endorsed a constitutional amendment designed to permanently safeguard slavery in every state in which the institution already existed. If that proslavery provision had been ratified, it would have become the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Three years later, Lincoln again threw his support behind a constitutional amendment to address this time to abolish it. Formally ratified in 1865, this is the Thirteenth Amendment we know today.
What happened in those intervening years that led Lincoln to switch from supporting a proslavery amendment to embracing the antislavery provision that ultimately became enshrined in the Constitution? Why did the Thirteenth Amendment of 1864–65 win out over that of 1861? Lincoln himself provided a key to “I claim not to have controlled events,” he said, “but confess plainly that events have controlled me.”
In Emancipation War award-winning journalist Damon Root chronicles the great legal, political, and military struggle to amend the U.S. Constitution to outlaw slavery once and for all. It is the story of canny political tacticians and unyielding radicals; of famous orators and unsung pamphleteers; of liberty-minded Union officers and enslaved persons who liberated themselves by following the North Star to freedom, and who then, in some cases, donned uniforms and took up arms against their former enslavers. It was this wide-ranging movement against slavery—operating both inside and outside the halls of government power, fighting both on and off the battlefield—that made an antislavery constitutional amendment possible.
Telling the story from both the top down and the bottom up, Emancipation War provides a gripping and revealing new history of the Thirteenth Amendment.
What happened in those intervening years that led Lincoln to switch from supporting a proslavery amendment to embracing the antislavery provision that ultimately became enshrined in the Constitution? Why did the Thirteenth Amendment of 1864–65 win out over that of 1861? Lincoln himself provided a key to “I claim not to have controlled events,” he said, “but confess plainly that events have controlled me.”
In Emancipation War award-winning journalist Damon Root chronicles the great legal, political, and military struggle to amend the U.S. Constitution to outlaw slavery once and for all. It is the story of canny political tacticians and unyielding radicals; of famous orators and unsung pamphleteers; of liberty-minded Union officers and enslaved persons who liberated themselves by following the North Star to freedom, and who then, in some cases, donned uniforms and took up arms against their former enslavers. It was this wide-ranging movement against slavery—operating both inside and outside the halls of government power, fighting both on and off the battlefield—that made an antislavery constitutional amendment possible.
Telling the story from both the top down and the bottom up, Emancipation War provides a gripping and revealing new history of the Thirteenth Amendment.
160 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 2026
About the author
Damon Root
3 books6 followersDamon Root is an award-winning journalist and the author of two books: A Glorious Liberty: Frederick Douglass and the Fight for an Antislavery Constitution (Potomac Books, 2020) and Overruled: The Long War for Control of the U.S. Supreme Court (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014). His work has been cited by the Texas Supreme Court and in the writings of U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens.
He is a senior editor at Reason magazine, where he writes about law, politics, and history.
He is a senior editor at Reason magazine, where he writes about law, politics, and history.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
I feel rather ambivalent after reading this book. It’s an important subject and a well-written treatment, but its points and conclusions seem a bit obvious to anyone with any familiarity with the theme or the era, while its tone is a bit dry and academic for a broader audience who may be newer to the subject. It made me wonder who the intended audience is? Because, while I appreciate the effort, I don’t think it was me.
Root uses the proposed prewar 13th Amendment - which would have acknowledged that the federal government had no right to interfere with slavery in the states - and the actual 13th Amendment that we know today, as bookends to his narrative. How did we get from fortifying slavery to eradicating it in just a few short years?
The obvious answer is, there was that small matter of a Civil War in between that negated the purpose of the original amendment and brought about the conditions that inspired the eventual one.
But Root wants to explore the shifts in sentiment and strategy that prompted the shift from one proposed amendment to another, particularly when it comes to President Lincoln. At a mere 131 pages, though, this book can’t explore this subject with the depth and thoroughness that it requires.
As a result, no context is provided about why the original 13th Amendment was proposed and why Lincoln, for political reasons, professed to support it, as he tried to avert secession and war by formally acknowledging what he already considered a given - that the Constitution forbade the federal government from interfering with the institution of slavery in states where it already existed.
Instead, these nuances are simplified to declare that Lincoln “had thrown his support behind a proposed constitutional amendment that would forever bar the federal government from interfering with slavery inside of the states,” without noting that he did not exactly do so enthusiastically or that it meant he wanted slavery to remain intact. Root goes on to lay out his thesis as examining what prompted Lincoln “to switch from supporting a proslavery constitutional amendment to embracing the grand antislavery provision that was ultimately enshrined in the Constitution?”
Root supports this view of a malleable, passive Lincoln by citing his "I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly that events have controlled me” quote to suggest that Lincoln was acknowledging “the political and social forces that not only pointed him in an antislavery direction but increasingly compelled him to move,” as though he had no desire or ability to move forward himself, instead simply letting others steer public opinion until his ultimate course became inevitable.
This point of view is most vividly displayed in considering Lincoln’s countermanding of John Frémont’s emancipation order early in the war. Lincoln had a number of reasons for doing so - it was a presidential prerogative and not for generals to decide, it would have violated existing confiscation laws, and would have antagonized the border states at that early stage of the war. But Root seems to consider it mainly in the context of Lincoln’s own eventual Emancipation Proclamation, comparing and contrasting the two events to wondrously declare the road from one to the next as “one of the most incredible intellectual transformations in the history of the American presidency.”
Most of the rest of the book consists of character sketches of abolitionists and others who were more immediatist about eradicating slavery than Lincoln, who had to be more cautious to ensure it would be done legally and in a way the public would accept. The implication is that these others paved the way for Lincoln to act, rather than granting Lincoln any credit for finding a way to turn their desires into action.
Overall, I found the book too concise to be comprehensive, too simplified to be truly insightful, too academic to be dismissed as pop history, but too obvious and informal at times to be truly scholarly (with out-of-place anachronistic colloquialisms like describing a Civil War general as “giving the proverbial middle finger to his naysayers,” or describing how Lincoln “made (Frederick) Douglass want to put his fist through the wall.”)
The book ends with the triumphant passage of the 13th Amendment, immediately followed by a somewhat dispiriting epilogue that questions whether the amendment was so triumphant after all, considering the problems of Reconstruction and Jim Crow and racial strife that followed. A deeper consideration of whether the 13th Amendment ultimately delivered on its promises might have given this 131-page quickie more heft. Instead, it’s beyond the scope of what Root aimed to do here, as he concludes blandly that the 13th Amendment wasn’t perfect, but it did make the country “a freer place than it was before,” which makes it “an accomplishment worth honoring.”
An accomplishment worth being the subject of a book, you might say. This is an admirable attempt to be that book, but with too many nuances elided and details omitted, it comes across as more of a thoughtful essay than a fully-formed volume. One that may leave others, too, feeling more ambivalent than enlightened.
Thanks to NetGalley and the University of Nebraska Press’s Potomac Books for providing an advance copy of this book for review, ahead of its June 1st release.
Root uses the proposed prewar 13th Amendment - which would have acknowledged that the federal government had no right to interfere with slavery in the states - and the actual 13th Amendment that we know today, as bookends to his narrative. How did we get from fortifying slavery to eradicating it in just a few short years?
The obvious answer is, there was that small matter of a Civil War in between that negated the purpose of the original amendment and brought about the conditions that inspired the eventual one.
But Root wants to explore the shifts in sentiment and strategy that prompted the shift from one proposed amendment to another, particularly when it comes to President Lincoln. At a mere 131 pages, though, this book can’t explore this subject with the depth and thoroughness that it requires.
As a result, no context is provided about why the original 13th Amendment was proposed and why Lincoln, for political reasons, professed to support it, as he tried to avert secession and war by formally acknowledging what he already considered a given - that the Constitution forbade the federal government from interfering with the institution of slavery in states where it already existed.
Instead, these nuances are simplified to declare that Lincoln “had thrown his support behind a proposed constitutional amendment that would forever bar the federal government from interfering with slavery inside of the states,” without noting that he did not exactly do so enthusiastically or that it meant he wanted slavery to remain intact. Root goes on to lay out his thesis as examining what prompted Lincoln “to switch from supporting a proslavery constitutional amendment to embracing the grand antislavery provision that was ultimately enshrined in the Constitution?”
Root supports this view of a malleable, passive Lincoln by citing his "I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly that events have controlled me” quote to suggest that Lincoln was acknowledging “the political and social forces that not only pointed him in an antislavery direction but increasingly compelled him to move,” as though he had no desire or ability to move forward himself, instead simply letting others steer public opinion until his ultimate course became inevitable.
This point of view is most vividly displayed in considering Lincoln’s countermanding of John Frémont’s emancipation order early in the war. Lincoln had a number of reasons for doing so - it was a presidential prerogative and not for generals to decide, it would have violated existing confiscation laws, and would have antagonized the border states at that early stage of the war. But Root seems to consider it mainly in the context of Lincoln’s own eventual Emancipation Proclamation, comparing and contrasting the two events to wondrously declare the road from one to the next as “one of the most incredible intellectual transformations in the history of the American presidency.”
Most of the rest of the book consists of character sketches of abolitionists and others who were more immediatist about eradicating slavery than Lincoln, who had to be more cautious to ensure it would be done legally and in a way the public would accept. The implication is that these others paved the way for Lincoln to act, rather than granting Lincoln any credit for finding a way to turn their desires into action.
Overall, I found the book too concise to be comprehensive, too simplified to be truly insightful, too academic to be dismissed as pop history, but too obvious and informal at times to be truly scholarly (with out-of-place anachronistic colloquialisms like describing a Civil War general as “giving the proverbial middle finger to his naysayers,” or describing how Lincoln “made (Frederick) Douglass want to put his fist through the wall.”)
The book ends with the triumphant passage of the 13th Amendment, immediately followed by a somewhat dispiriting epilogue that questions whether the amendment was so triumphant after all, considering the problems of Reconstruction and Jim Crow and racial strife that followed. A deeper consideration of whether the 13th Amendment ultimately delivered on its promises might have given this 131-page quickie more heft. Instead, it’s beyond the scope of what Root aimed to do here, as he concludes blandly that the 13th Amendment wasn’t perfect, but it did make the country “a freer place than it was before,” which makes it “an accomplishment worth honoring.”
An accomplishment worth being the subject of a book, you might say. This is an admirable attempt to be that book, but with too many nuances elided and details omitted, it comes across as more of a thoughtful essay than a fully-formed volume. One that may leave others, too, feeling more ambivalent than enlightened.
Thanks to NetGalley and the University of Nebraska Press’s Potomac Books for providing an advance copy of this book for review, ahead of its June 1st release.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Emancipation War: The Fall of Slavery and the Coming of the Thirteenth Amendment by Damon Root. #EmancipationWar
Emancipation War is a history book that takes a unique look at what its subtitle states: “the fall of slavery and the coming of the Thirteenth Amendment.” I received an advanced copy from #NetGalley. Thanks to them and to University of Nebraska Press and Potomac Books.
What I loved:
-I was very impressed by the overall structure of the book and presentation of ideas. One minute we are looking at big picture visuals, and the next minute we have closeups. He also jumps around in time when necessary. It’s not a dull, formulaic retelling of past events. It’s more putting the pieces together in each chapter to show you how the legislative sausage is made (but in a fun way).
-It’s also honest about the history. I’m no trained historian or Civil War buff, but I felt like the book was fair in its portrayal of events and the people involved in those events. It clearly written by a trained journalist (I’m saying that in a positive way). This isn’t somebody with an axe to grind.
-I learned a lot. And this relates to the structure and narrative approach I mentioned earlier. The way Root conveys what happened provides us readers with lots of details—because he isn’t focused on the day-to-day events, as you sometimes must in a larger history book.
-If you like authors who provide footnotes to back up their claims, you will like Damon Root.
-One of the things that made me hopeful after reading this book, is the way in which the author describes the slow changes and hard work it took to abolish slavery. He also shows how many of the people in that time did change their minds. Today, I hope for some more of that in America (fingers crossed emoji).
Who is this book for?
-What’s tricky about this book is that it may not be for everyone. As I said earlier, I’m not a history buff or a Civil War guy, but after reading it, it’s clear this book is written more for a general audience than for specialists/history buffs.
-Come to think of it, this a short book with tons of useful knowledge, so maybe it is for everybody. If you have a couple hours, read it and see for yourself.
#EmancipationWar
Emancipation War is a history book that takes a unique look at what its subtitle states: “the fall of slavery and the coming of the Thirteenth Amendment.” I received an advanced copy from #NetGalley. Thanks to them and to University of Nebraska Press and Potomac Books.
What I loved:
-I was very impressed by the overall structure of the book and presentation of ideas. One minute we are looking at big picture visuals, and the next minute we have closeups. He also jumps around in time when necessary. It’s not a dull, formulaic retelling of past events. It’s more putting the pieces together in each chapter to show you how the legislative sausage is made (but in a fun way).
-It’s also honest about the history. I’m no trained historian or Civil War buff, but I felt like the book was fair in its portrayal of events and the people involved in those events. It clearly written by a trained journalist (I’m saying that in a positive way). This isn’t somebody with an axe to grind.
-I learned a lot. And this relates to the structure and narrative approach I mentioned earlier. The way Root conveys what happened provides us readers with lots of details—because he isn’t focused on the day-to-day events, as you sometimes must in a larger history book.
-If you like authors who provide footnotes to back up their claims, you will like Damon Root.
-One of the things that made me hopeful after reading this book, is the way in which the author describes the slow changes and hard work it took to abolish slavery. He also shows how many of the people in that time did change their minds. Today, I hope for some more of that in America (fingers crossed emoji).
Who is this book for?
-What’s tricky about this book is that it may not be for everyone. As I said earlier, I’m not a history buff or a Civil War guy, but after reading it, it’s clear this book is written more for a general audience than for specialists/history buffs.
-Come to think of it, this a short book with tons of useful knowledge, so maybe it is for everybody. If you have a couple hours, read it and see for yourself.
#EmancipationWar
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews