Doctor Lincoln's New Elixir of Life -- For the Southern States.

This cartoon shows Abraham Lincoln (“Dr. Lincoln”) with an imprisoned slave, labeled “slavery”. He is empathetically offering the slave a drink from a bowl that says “emancipation.” Though this cartoon was published in April 1862, prior to the Emancipation Proclamation, there had already been several clashes over the emancipation issue. Lincoln had already intervened to modify declarations of emancipation by Gen. John C. Fremont and Gen. David Hunter. However, Lincoln saw the potential of emancipation as a means to weaken the Confederacy and confront the divisive institution. Though this depiction seems to revolve around ideas of mercy and idealism from Lincoln, it also references his exercise of pragmatism. The title significantly says “For the Southern States”, implying that emancipation would not be all encompassing, at least right away. If Lincoln’s actions with Fremont and Hunter were any indicator, it was clear that Lincoln would not jeopardize the war effort in conquered and/or border areas by enforcing emancipation