The language of the proclamation reflected Lincoln’s anger at prominent secessionists, whom he regarded as a small handful who had dragooned their neighbors into disunion. In a draft of that document, he spoke of their “[in]sults, and injuries already too long endured.” (In the final version, he referred more temperately to “wrongs” rather than “insults and injuries.”) Justifying the resort to arms, he emphasized a theme he would reiterate again and again, most memorably at Gettysburg in 1863: “I appeal to all loyal citizens to favor, facilitate, and aid this effort to maintain the honor, the integrity, and the existence of our National Union, and the perpetuity of popular government.” This war was not merely one to preserve the Union but also to vindicate democracy. The mission of the troops, he explained, would “probably be to repossess the forts, places and property, which have been seized from the Union; and, in every event, the utmost care will be observed, consistently with the objects aforesaid, to avoid any devastation; any destruction of, or interference with, property, or any disturbance of peaceful citizens, in any part of the country.”
Source: Abraham Lincoln ∶ A Life ▫𓂃
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