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The emancipation proclamation essay
The emancipation proclamation essay
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One of the most important acts in the entire history of the United States was the issuing of the Emancipation Proclamation by Abraham Lincoln. It is obvious that the Proclamation would affect the immediate political and military situation of the Union, as well as the Confederacy, but it also had far reaching effects even up to this day. While the Emancipation Proclamation did not directly end slavery, it did deal slavery a massive blow and set the nation up for abolition in the end. Because the Proclamation was such an important piece of legislation, it is worthwhile to examine the political and military situations that led President Lincoln to issue it. Lincoln’s political situation in 1862-63 contributed to his issuing of the Emancipation …show more content…
The Union had expected the war to end quickly, and when it failed to end quickly debate sprang up over how to move forward. One faction wanted to begin peace negotiations with the Confederacy, but the others saw this as Confederate victory; another faction wanted to keep fighting and hope the Confederacy would give up soon. Lincoln came up with a third option, which was to take away the Confederacy’s resources and to maximize those of the Union. While he certainly desired to see slavery abolished, he had more than political and moral motives for focusing on slavery as a means to attain his goal. Slavery was a great advantage to the south, allowing them to mobilize more of their white male population for war while the slaves produced food and supplies; if they mobilized the slaves as soldiers they could have also significantly bolstered their numbers. Lincoln expected most freed slaves to turn and fight their masters, so the Emancipation Proclamation would be a great way to take away the Confederacy’s greatest resource and mobilize it for the Union at the same time. The military situation also dictated the timing Lincoln chose for issuing the Emancipation Proclamation. Seward suggested that Lincoln wait for a military victory to issue it; otherwise, it might seem like a desperate action by a defeated
Abraham Lincoln is known as the President who helped to free the slaves, lead the Union to victory over the confederates in the American Civil War, preserve the union of the United States and modernize the economy. The Emancipation Proclamation, issued through Presidential constitutional authority on January 1st, 1863, declared that all slaves in the ten remaining slave states were to be liberated and remain liberated. The Emancipation Proclamation freed between three and four million slaves, however, since it was a Presidential constitutional authority and not though congress, the Emancipation Proclamation failed to free slaves in Border States like Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky and Missouri. Essentially, states that were under Federal Government and loyal to the Union did not have their slaves liberated; Lincoln even stating “When it took effect in January 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation freed 3.1 million of the nation's 4 million slaves.” Some argue Lincoln issued this Proclamation in an attempt to satisfy the demands of Radical Republicans, members of a group within the Republican Party. Radical Republicans were a group of politicians who strongly...
At the time, the South depended on slavery to support their way of life. In fact, “to protect slavery the Confederate States of America would challenge the peaceful, lawful, orderly means of changing governments in the United States, even by resorting to war.” (635) Lincoln believed that slavery was morally wrong and realized that slavery was bitterly dividing the country. Not only was slavery dividing the nation, but slavery was also endangering the Union, hurting both black and white people and threatening the processes of government. At first, Lincoln’s goal was to save the Union in which “he would free none, some, or all the slaves to save that Union.” (634) However, Lincoln realized that “freeing the slaves and saving the Union were linked as one goal, not two optional goals.” (634) Therefore, Lincoln’s primary goal was to save the Union and in order to save the Union, Lincoln had to free the slaves. However, Paludan states that, “slave states understood this; that is why the seceded and why the Union needed saving.” (634) Lincoln’s presidential victory was the final sign to many Southerners that their position in the Union was
Abraham Lincoln’s original views on slavery were formed through the way he was raised and the American customs of the period. Throughout Lincoln’s influential years, slavery was a recognized and a legal institution in the United States of America. Even though Lincoln began his career by declaring that he was “anti-slavery,” he was not likely to agree to instant emancipation. However, although Lincoln did not begin as a radical anti-slavery Republican, he eventually issued his Emancipation Proclamation, which freed all slaves and in his last speech, even recommended extending voting to blacks. Although Lincoln’s feeling about blacks and slavery was quite constant over time, the evidence found between his debate with Stephen A. Douglas and his Gettysburg Address, proves that his political position and actions towards slavery have changed profoundly.
It did not have immediate freeing action, but the theory furthered his idea that human bondage was immoral and that blacks deserved equal economic opportunities but not political rights. The fate of the proclamation rested in Republican political success and Union military victories. After turning the nation towards total war, Union victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg marked a major military, political, and democratic turning point. The overall war victory had been associated with the prevention of the expansion of slavery and led to the creation of the thirteenth amendment abolishing slavery. Lincoln had, however, appealed to the south on more peaceful terms- after claiming secession illegal and reasoning that he wanted to prevent the spread of slavery to protect the union, he gave the choice of rebellion or obedience to the south, giving them opportunities like the ten percent plan to rejoin under oath, as well.
Saiba Haque Word Count: 1347 HUMANITIES 8 RECONSTRUCTION UNIT ESSAY Slavery was a problem that had been solved by the end of the Civil War. Slavery abused black people and forced them to work. The Northerners didn’t like this and constantly criticized Southerners, causing a fight. On January 1, 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation was signed by Lincoln to free all the slaves in the border states. “
Behind the scenes of Manifest Destiny, what really transformed the country was the ability to move products across great distances and the Erie Canal was a huge turning point for economic growth in America. Opened in 1825, the Erie Canal was the engineering breakthrough of the nineteenth century: Its four waterways would connect manufacturing and eastern ports with the rest of the country. Farmers could now ship their goods, they could move out, come down the Hudson River and this way of commuting became a part of a global economy. This Moment would bring about the thought of expansion which will become the fuse to enormous economic growth that will ultimately in the next century, become the belief of manifest destiny. The nation that both reflected the pride which reflected American nationalism, and the idealistic image of social perfection through God and the Church caused the nation to separate.
The use of statistics and facts are not needed to provide a stronger argument. While not directly stated in the text, it can be inferred that President Lincoln had logical reasoning in “The Emancipation Proclamation”. It can be argued that President Lincoln could infer through logical reasoning that slaves might actively sabotage the Southern war effort after the announcement of “The Emancipation Proclamation”. He could also reason that the end of slavery would weaken the South’s fragile economy by withholding their labor. In fact, thousands of slaves had already escaped to sanctuary in Union territory to places like Fort Monroe in Virginia. These refugees aided the war effort by providing information on Confederate movements and supply lines, but they were not yet eligible for protection under the law (History.com). Instead, they were classified as contraband, enemy property subject to seizure. Emancipation would offer them civil rights. Lincoln also hoped emancipation of Southern slaves would persuade African Americans in the Northern states to enlist in the Union Army. Finally, an abolitionist course might dissuade Britain and France from lending military support to Confederate States (History.com). Both nations had ended slavery in their own countries but retained economic interests in Southern goods and plantation crops. So overall, emancipation seemed not only the
The future of the United States was decided in this war. Abraham Lincoln knew that for any further issues regarding slavery would only hurt the US so he realized that the decision would have to be either slavery or no slavery. He knew that the future would Congress and House should not have to decide laws that govern slavery. He knew that if the Confederacy lost the war, they would need to join the US again because their country would not stand. He was aware that the Union could act upon this without low opposition because he did not have Southern protesting. He was always planning to end slavery because he was a Republican and he did not believe that the continuation of slavery would help the country. He was saving the country from future conflicts on a major scale that would be strong enough to separate the nation into two countries
With this document, he planned to win the war for the Union army. A big issue was: Did Lincoln only release the Emancipation Proclamation because he felt pressured to? As soon as Lincoln became president, he was compelled by extremist Republicans and abolitionists to issue the Emancipation Proclamation. They thought that now that there was a Republican president, shouldn’t he issue this proclamation? Lincoln did believe in abolishing slavery, but he postponed this task until he had more support from American citizens.
Lincoln declared that “all persons held as slaves” in areas in rebellion “shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.” Not only liberate slaves in the border slave states, but the President has purposely made the proclamation in all places in the South where the slaves were existed. While the Emancipation Proclamation was an important turning point in the war. It transformed the fight to preserve the nation into a battle for human freedom. According the history book “A People and a Nation”, the Emancipation Proclamation was legally an ambiguous document, but as a moral and political document it had great meaning. It was a delicate balancing act because it defined the war as a war against slavery, not the war from northern and southern people, and at the same time, it protected Lincoln’s position with conservatives, and there was no turning
Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 during the civil war, as main goal to win the war. Some historians argued that it was based on feelings towards slaves because not only it freed slaves in the South; it was also a huge step for the real abolition of slavery in the United States. While other historians argued that it was a military tactic because it strengthened the Union army, because the emancipated slaves were joining the Union thus providing a larger manpower than the Confederacy . The Emancipation Proclamation emancipated slaves only in the Confederacy and did not apply to the Border-states and the Union states.
Lincoln 's decision to issue the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, was to up the North 's support so they wouldn 't go to the confederate side. Not only a change in North war, but a change in the slavery, like granting the slaves their freedom so they wouldn 't have any more slave revolts which would cause even more chaos in other words another war. "The Emancipation Proclamation granted freedom to the slaves in the Confederate states if the states did not return to the Union by January 1,1863. In addition, under the proclamation, freedom would only come to the slaves if the Union won the war." Abraham Lincoln president at the time, the northerners also known as the Union, the south also known as the confederates, and slave states still in
Until Abraham Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation on 22 September 1862, the President’s enunciation of Civ il War aims centered squarely upon the restoration of the Union, and purposefuly omited the inclusion of the abolition of slavery. Dismantling the institution of slavery was not his ultimate objective, and Lincoln was forced to pursue a war strategy tha t would not push the slaveholding border -states into the open arms of the Confederacy. General John C. Fremont, however, living up to his reputation for impulsive acts and liberal interpretations of his own authority, proclaimed the freedom of any slave c onfiscated under his command in Missouri. This order ran counter to Lincoln’s war strategy and threatened to deliver Kentucky and other border - states to the Confederacy. Nevertheless, although Fr6mont’s decision was injudicious and unconstitutional accord ing to Lincoln, the conditions in Missouri, the strategic importance of holding that state, and the latitude given by the inistration to Fremont in his western department command, indicate that his order may have had military and political value, but th at it was il timed. As a result, Lincoln did not censure or relieve Fremont for this particular act, but congenialy asked him to amend his proclamation to avert unwanted political and military consequences. Lincoln’s belief in the utility of emancipati on as a tool to defeat the South was demonstrated a year later with the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation.
Abraham Lincoln was not pursuing the right course of action when he signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. It is indicated that Lincoln had second guesses regarding his move through signing the deal to end slavery. This is indicated by the fact that Abraham Lincoln was considering convincing Jefferson Davis who, at the time, was committed to freeing the southern states. His dedication is part of the reason why Lincoln’s title of “great emancipator” has meaning. Since then, Abraham has been associated with having played a key role in ending slavery in America. Even though Lincoln is associated with ending slavery, it is said that he was more opposed to the idea of the disintegration of the Union and if he had a chance to select between support for the union and ending slavery, he would have opted for the Union as his choice. The idea that Lincoln would have chosen to be in the same camp with Jefferson is a clear testimony that his signing the Emancipation Proclamation was not the best action (Carrington 570).
In 1862, early on in the war, Lincoln proposed to Congress a “state-sponsored program of gradual emancipation” twice. These proposals even included compensated emancipation. However, both of Lincoln’s propositions were shut down. Lincoln realized gradual emancipation was not a viable option, as states were divided on their views regarding slavery as an isolated issue. Lincoln needed to incentivize emancipation with a larger goal to unite the Union army and the Union as a whole toward it. Hence, Lincoln merged winning the war and actions on slavery on open forums such as the response to Greeley. In doing so, Lincoln could shift the Civil War’s purpose to an ideological war for emancipation when the Emancipation Proclamation was issued. The Union, with the goal of winning the war, would fight for emancipation, the tool to win the war and the North itself would rally behind emancipation to preserve the