ln in the 1864 election. An anonymous pamphlet surfaced entitled, "Miscegenation: The Theory of Blending of the Races, Applied to the American White Man and Negro." The phony pamphlet was compliments of Lincoln's political enemies and made it appear as though part of Lincoln's new campaign goals would be to promote "the mingling of the races...[and] in the millennial future, the most perfect and highest type of manhood will not be white or black, but brown, or colored." Because Lincoln had already published the Emancipation Proclamation and freed the slaves in the Confederacy, the pamphlet was quite believable and convinced a lot of people that his next step would be to encourage interracial marriages (Wikipedia Online).
             The story "Désirée's Baby" encompasses this interracial relationship concept. The story focuses on a young woman who was found abandoned as a small child and was taken in and nurtured by a loving couple, the Valmondés. The girl, who is named Désirée, grows into a beautiful, gentle young woman who falls in love at first sight with a strapping young man named Armand Aubigny.
             The love-struck pair is married at once and shortly after, Désirée gives birth to their first born, a baby boy. Armand is inexpressibly overjoyed and due to his fulfillment, he becomes a new man. He is now incredibly kind towards both his wife and even towards the slaves, whom before he had dealt with mercilessly. However, his happiness is quickly diminished as the boy ages and his skin continues to grow darker and darker "and the very spirit of Satan seemed suddenly to take hold of him (Armand) in his dealings with the slave
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