Did abraham lincoln own slaves?

As military governor of Tennessee, he convinced Abraham Lincoln to exempt that area from the Emancipation Proclamation. Although he later served as a general in the Union Army, Grant had control of slaves owned by his wife. He is known to have personally owned only one slave, William Jones, from 1857 to 1859. read more

Though Lincoln saw himself as working alongside the abolitionists on behalf of a common anti-slavery cause, he did not count himself among them. Only with emancipation, and with his support of the eventual 13th Amendment, would Lincoln finally win over the most committed abolitionists. read more

In 1863, Lincoln ordered the freedom of all slaves in the areas "in rebellion" (the Confederacy) and insisted on enforcement freeing millions of slaves, but he did not call for the immediate end of slavery everywhere in the U.S. until the proposed 13th Amendment became part of his party platform for the 1864 election. read more

Lincoln joins George Washington and Thomas Jefferson as U.S. President that were slaveholders despite misgivings. Washington freed his slaves when he died. Lincoln never got the chance to do that. read more