President Abraham Lincoln's August 23, 1862 Letter To Horace Greeley

Horace Greeley (1811–1872) was the founder and editor of the influential New York Tribune, whose circulation was among the largest in the United States. On August 19, 1862, Greeley wrote an editorial titled “The Prayer of Twenty Millions”--referring to the number of Northerners loyal to the Union--which criticized Lincoln for his reluctance to use the powers Congress had given him to confiscate southern property, including slaves, in order to emancipate them. The following is President Abraham Lincoln's reply, published in the Daily National Intelligencer on August 23, 1862.