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Slavery and its effect on the civil war
Abraham Lincoln's view on slavery
Abraham Lincoln and slavery
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When President Lincoln first called for troops to put down the confederate rebellion, he made no connection between this action and an attempt to end slavery. In fact, he explicitly stated "the utmost care will be observed to avoid any devastation, any destruction of, or interference with, property..." At this point, slavery was not yet integral to the struggle, it was much more important for the Union to air on the side of political prudence and avoid angering loyal boarder states. However, despite this lack of political dialogue, many abolitionists, slaves, and free blacks felt the war to preserve the union could also be a war to end slavery. In the end, they were right, as military need overwhelmed potential political dangers, slaves and the institution of slavery became a central issue in the civil war. In congruence with President Lincoln’s statements regarding the differentiation between fighting the confederates and ending slavery, Union officers upheld slaveholders constitutionally guaranteed right to own slaves. They continually reassured slave holders in loyal boarder states that the Union would not be fighting against the institution of slavery and any runaway slaves would be returned. This policy was strictly followed by most generals and many runaway slaves were returned to their masters to face punishment or death. Despite this danger, slaves continued to run away and enter Union lines. As this persisted, many Union officers were forced to reconsider the official policy of their superiors. General Benjamin F. Butler was one of the first to break the trend, providing food and shelter to slaves who had previously worked for the Confederacy, and ultimately putting the able-bodied men to work. He justified his actions... ... middle of paper ... ...vil war largely due to necessity. The Union was fighting a costly war in both lives and labor, it is of no surprise then that they were desperate for both. Slaves provided a solution, cheap, dedicated labor, and soldiers willing to die for their cause. Furthermore, when this necessity was combined with eagerness on the part of the slaves to contribute and the desires of abolitionists to end slavery on moral grounds, including slaves in the struggle became more important than avoiding a delicate subject. Ultimately, the need for soldiers and laborers simply overwhelmed any desire or necessity to maintain political prudence. Abraham Lincoln, Proclamation Calling Militia and Convening Congress. April 15, 1861 Ira Berlin, Free at Last: A Documentary History of Slavery, Freedom, and the Civil War. p.3 Abraham Lincoln, The Emancipation Proclamation. September 22, 1862
Franklin, J., Moss, A. Jr. From Slavery to Freedom. Seventh edition, McGraw Hill, Inc.: 1994.
The people of the North and South each believed fiercely in their cause, one for a free people the other for life servitude. Neither group, based on the documents presented were willing to budge regarding their beliefs. They North wanted to abolish slavery completely and the South could not understand why they had to give up their way of life because the concept was so ingrained in them as a people. The two completely different ideals could not co-exist peacefully and therefore the eventual climax of this issue, the war, was an inevitable
The plantation owners with slaves began to look into purchasing slaves quickly after the intuition of the war to avoid the price increase that they was suspected to arrive. Confederates believed that they were fighting for liberty and slavery. Slavery abolition wasn 't exactly what the Union soldiers were fighting for as it was embedded into our heads throughout the school years. As the years went on and the Union soldiers began to move south, runways attached to the Union soldiers, by the summer of 1862 the thoughts of slavery abolition have become greatly noted, especially after the Emancipation Proclamation. Many soldiers began to see the abolition of slavery as the only way out of the war, as seen in the quote "The only way to put down this rebellion is to hurt an instigator and abettors of it. Slavery must be cleansed out... The time has come to march through this infest of vipers with fire and sword, to liberate every slave”
In a speech that Lincoln gave prior to his presidency, we can see how ambiguous his stance on slavery truly was. This speech, known as the ‘House Divided’ speech, was given on the 16th of June, 1858, and outlined his beliefs regarding secession, but did not solidify the abolition of slavery as his main goal. Lincoln states that the nation “could not endure, permanently half slave and half free,” and that the slavery will either cease to exist, or will encompass all states lawfully (Lincoln). At this point in his life, Lincoln’s primary concern is clearly with the preservation of the nation.
From the start of the Civil War, Lincoln clarified that the goal of the war was not “`to put down slavery, but to put the flag back,’” and he refused to declare the war as a war over slavery (Brodie 155 as qtd. in Klingaman 75-76). In a letter to Horace Greeley, editor of the New York Tribune, in August 1862, Lincoln wrote: “My paramount object in this struggle is not either to save or destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing [any] slave I would do it…” (Selected Speeches 343 as qtd. in Tackach 44). Lincoln also refused to declare that slavery was the Civil War’s main focus because many Whites in the North and in the much-valued Border States would not agree with a war to free slaves since they believed Blacks were inferior to Whites (Wheeler 225-226). The political and military advantages of the Border States made Lincoln reluctant to proclaim the Civil War to be a war about slavery (Wheeler 225-226). Even Jefferson Davis, president of the en...
However, the South painted him as a South-hating abolitionist who vowed to entirely destroy slavery. Even though after Lincoln won the election he assured the South no end to slavery, the Civil War was initiated at the Battle of Fort Sumpter. Lincoln and his staff maintained that the purpose of the war was to save the Union. This reasoning was given to retain the support of the border slave states and prevent Democrats from being alienated. However, pressures of the war prompted Lincoln to change his mind. Many Republicans pressured Lincoln to free the slaves as they no longer had an obligation to respect the Southern peculiar institution. They also pointed out slavery was what caused the war and would have a foreign policy advantage: repelling Britain from recognizing the Confederacy’s sovereignty. Also during this time, the Union was growing weary in response to a number of military failures and the enlistments were down; freeing that slaves would mean the Union recruit free blacks into its armed forces. Finally, it freed millions of innocent blacks from their shackles, which represented the American ideal of opportunity and equality. Despite all the pressure, Lincoln resisted. However developed a compromise: a gradual emancipation plan and colonization program. It was aimed at keeping Britain neutral, freeing the slaves, weakening the
1. As Union troops and soldiers advanced to the Southern frontiers slaves took the risk and crossed over to the north to escape into Northern freedom. Their gamble proved successful but their status however was raised to a very small level. When the Civil War surfaced to a visible standpoint, Major General Benjamin F. Butler pondered whether or not, fugitive slaves would be the receivers of imputed protection from the menacing South or adjust to a different form of servitude. He exposed the failures within the system of the government and the constitution of the America, due to the fact that previous measures have never been taken to define the purpose of freedom seekers in society and their function as “contraband of war”. For much of American history slaves were considered as property with no rights, the Civil war was pivotal in changing this. He quickly assumed that as former laborers of the south, the suitable and most adequate new profession would be that of laborers of the war for the North. Union Generals would also assume the same definition of freedmen but the Federal government had the final say over the topic.
"A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half-slave and half-free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved - I do not expect the house to fall - but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other," said by Abraham Lincoln. In 1860 President Abraham Lincoln swore to keep slavery out of the territories, as a result the states in the south seceded and founded a new nation, the Confederate States of America. The government and most of the northern states refused to recognize the validity of their secession. They feared that the United States was going to drift apart and not be unified. They wanted to preserve the union at any cost. The civil war began
After thoroughly assessing past readings and additional research on the Civil War between the North and South, it was quite apparent that the war was inevitable. Opposed views on this would have probably argued that slavery was the only reason for the Civil War. Therefore suggesting it could have been avoided if a resolution was reached on the issue of slavery. Although there is accuracy in stating slavery led to the war, it wasn’t the only factor. Along with slavery, political issues with territorial expansion, there were also economic and social differences between North and South. These differences, being more than just one or two, gradually led to a war that was bound to happened one way or another.
What many people don’t know is that the original intent of the Civil War was to preserve the Union. Many factors went into Lincoln’s decision to also address slavery through this war. For one, the number of men enlisting in the war was dwindling, and it became apparent that black manpower would be absolutely necessary to win the war. Also, the increasingly upset Radical Republicans and abolitionists let their opinions be known and persuaded the citizens of the North that the war could not be won without attacking the issue of slavery. Finally, Lincoln believed that transforming the dispute from a conflict to preserve the Union to a crusade against slavery would dissuade the threatening British and French from supporting the Confederacy. With its new stated purpose, the Civil War would now have huge societal repercussions.
March 4, 1861, President Abraham Lincoln stated that he had "no purpose, directly, or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the states where it exists. I believe I lack lawful right to do, so, and I lack the inclination to do so." The attempts by overzealous generals such as John C. Fremont and David Hunter to free the slaves in the areas they occupied were promptly countermanded by Lincoln. The person in the White House had enough problems without pushing slave-owning Union loyalist in the critical border states into the arms of secessionists
The drive to end slavery in the United States was a long one, from being debated in the writing of the Declaration of Independence, to exposure of its ills in literature, from rebellions of slaves, to the efforts of people like Harriet Tubman to transport escaping slaves along the Underground Railroad. Abolitionists had urged President Abraham Lincoln to free the slaves in the Confederate states from the very outset of the Civil War. By mid-1862, Lincoln had become increasingly convinced of the moral imperative to end slavery, but he hesitated (History.com). As commander-in-chief of the Union Army, he had military objectives to consider (History.com). On one hand, emancipation might
The American Civil War was the bloodiest military conflict in American history leaving over 500 thousand dead and over 300 thousand wounded (Roark 543-543). One might ask, what caused such internal tension within the most powerful nation in the world? During the nineteenth century, America was an infant nation, but toppling the entire world with its social, political, and economic innovations. In addition, immigrants were migrating from their native land to live the American dream (Roark 405-407). Meanwhile, hundreds of thousand African slaves were being traded in the domestic slave trade throughout the American south. Separated from their family, living in inhumane conditions, and working countless hours for days straight, the issue of slavery was the core of the Civil War (Roark 493-494). The North’s growing dissent for slavery and the South’s dependence on slavery is the reason why the Civil War was an inevitable conflict. Throughout this essay we will discuss the issue of slavery, states’ rights, American expansion into western territories, economic differences and its effect on the inevitable Civil War.
President Abraham Lincoln had never been a supporter of slavery, but in the first years of the war, he insisted that slavery wasn’t to be considered a reason for the conflict. As a matter of fact, he wanted to keep the border slave states, and he was well aware that, with emancipation of slavery, those border states might have left the Union and joined the Confederacy. Certainly, he could’t risk such a loss. On the other hand, President Abraham Lincoln realized that, in order to win the Civil War, the Union couldn’t simply occupy territory and capture the South’s capital. The purpose was to defeat the South, and to do so, the Union had to destroy what was its economical strength. Perhaps, the slavery system, which was, in fact, the strength
From the start of the war, abolitionists had urged President Abraham Lincoln to use the war as a way to abolish slavery. Lincoln acted in a cautious manner during the early months of the war, trying to figure out the best time to move forward with his plan. Until September, 1862, when Lincoln refused to include the abolition of slavery into the Union’s aims for the war. Also, when radical commanders in the Union ordered the freedom of slaves in parts of the South, Lincoln countered those orders, denying the slaves in the south the rights they deserve.