Video: 'Abraham Lincoln's Cabinet Review on the Emancipation Proclamation'

(Tuesday, July 22, 1862, during the American Civil War) — U.S. President Abraham Lincoln presented a preliminary draft of the Emancipation Proclamation to his entire cabinet today proposing to free more than 3.5 million enslaved African Americans in the secessionist Confederate states.

Video: 'Ken.Burns.The.Civil.War.2of9.A.Very.Bloody.Affair.' (July 22, 1862, at 30:54)

Although Secretary of War Edwin Stanton supported it, Secretary of State William Seward advised Lincoln to issue the proclamation after a major Union victory, or else it would appear as if the Union was giving “its last shriek of retreat.”

Video: 'Lincoln PBS 1992 - Part 2' ("Emancipation" at 1:46)

Lincoln agreed to wait until the Union Army has achieved a substantial military victory before making the announcement public.