Abraham Lincoln: “No human power can subdue this rebellion without the use of the emancipation policy.”

He said, with a great deal of emphasis, and with an expression of countenance I shall never forget: "When a man is sincerely penitent for his misdeeds, and gives satisfactory evidence of the same, he can safely be pardoned, and there is no…

I believe that it is not only possible, but in fact easier, to do this without deciding or even considering whether these States have ever been out of the Union, than with it.

If the end brings me out all right, what is said against me won't amount to anything.

I am considering, and shall not fail to act when satisfied that action will be proper.