Abraham Lincoln and the Use of African American Troops Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States. He helped keep the American Union together during the Civil War and abolished slavery in the United States. I believe that his decision to use African American troops in the Northern Army shows his strength of character and strong desire to free all slaves. Source 1, from Discovering the American Past, showed the desire of Northern blacks to use their resources to help the Government. They wanted to join the fight to aid the North against the South. Source 7, showed that Lincoln had no objections to recruiting free Negroes and he also had no objection to recruiting slaves of loyal owners with their consent. However, Lincoln did object to offensively recruiting troops especially those who were not suitable for recruits. According to Source 4, Abraham Lincoln s response to General Hunter, Lincoln voided any such declaration to free the slaves of any state. I he needed more time to think about this issue rather than act callously. Source 12, showed that Lincoln did believe that slavery was the main cause for the rebellion. Lincoln was worried that the fifty thousand soldiers from the border slave states would turn against the Union if an emancipation of slaves was enforced. Lincoln was waiting for a federal victory, he did not make his proclamation public until September 22, following the Battle of Antietam, when he announced that all slaves in areas still in rebellion within 100 days would be "then, thenceforward, and forever, free." The final Emancipation Proclamation followed on January 1, 1863. According to the Epilogue, President Lincoln, even threatened Confederate prisoners to be executed if any Negro prisoners were shot. And any slave returned to slavery a southern prisoner would do hard labor. Although he did not act on his threats Lincoln showed his support and his vision for blacks to have equality among the whites. The problem was how the rest of America would see this new equality.