For some Union soldiers, their exposure to southern slavery
profoundly altered their views on the institution, even before
President Lincoln issued his preliminary Emancipation
Proclamation in September 1862. One such soldier, John P. Jones,
wrote to his wife of his increasing sympathy for abolitionism
after seeing the inhumanity with which slaves could be treated.
He rejoiced that military policy no longer forced soldiers to
return escaped slaves, which had made him feel like a “slave
catcher.” A page from his letter, sent from Medon, Tenn., and
dated August 24, 1862, is a featured item in the Library’s “The
Civil War in America” exhibition, opening Nov. 12. The letter
has never before been seen by the public. I am getting to be
more and more of an abolitionist. I believe that this accursed
institution must go down. We can never have a permanent peace as
long … as this curse stains our otherwise fair insignia. The
ruler of nations can never prosper these United States until it
blots slavery from existence. H