Radio Rootz' This Day in History

• produced by Arturo Contreras
• in

Towards the middle of the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln, issued an “eye-for-eye” order. This act stated that for every captured black soldier that the Confederacy shot or sold into slavery, the Union would either shoot a revel prisoner or condemn one to a life of hard labor. Despite the Order, many Confederate commanders and soldiers continued to murder black prisoners of war. Although the eye-for-eye order was considered to reflect Lincoln’s abolitionist views, it was actually intended to intimidate the Confederacy rather than stop the killing of black soldiers. Like many of Lincoln’s celebrated actions, this order was motivated by politics rather than compassion and ethics.