The Emancipation Proclamation

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The Emancipation Proclamation was an enormous incentive for the Union’s victory in The Civil War because it freed slaves to be put in the Union army, which was an advantage for the Union victory. It was also the most important aspect of Lincoln’s legacy. The proclamation was important to history because it paved the way for the abolition of slavery in the United States. “Abraham Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation on September 22nd 1862. The document states that if the states in the rebellion didn’t cease, the proclamation would go into effect” (10 Facts). When the rebellious states decided not to, Lincoln issued the final Emancipation on January 1st, 1863. The proclamation only applied to the states in rebellion. In fact, the proclamation declared, “that all persons held as slaves, within the rebellious, are and henceforth shall be freed” (The Emancipation Proclamation). During the war, the Southern states used the slaves to support their armies in the field and to manage the home front. Lincoln justified the proclamation as a war measure intended to cripple the Confederates use of slaves in war. The book, Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation: The End Of Slavery in America, says “No single official paper in American history changed the lives of as many Americans as Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. But no American document has been held up to greater suspicion” (Guelzo 12). When Lincoln first proposed the Proclamation to his cabinet members, they didn’t support it; Lincoln’s advisors believed it to be too radical. However, regardless of what his advisors said, Lincoln still stood behind the proclamation. For example, Lincoln wrote a letter to James Conkling regarding his views on the proclamation, he sai... ... middle of paper ... ...it led the way to the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery in the United States. All together the Emancipation Proclamation helped the Union’s victory in the Civil war and was a critical step in abolishing slavery in the United States, changing America forever. Works Cited “10 Facts about the Emancipation Proclamation.” Civil War Trust. BBB. 2013. 2 February 2014 Carpenter, F.B. “First Reading of the Proclamation” 1886. Library of Congress. web. 2 February 2014 “Emancipation Proclamation” National Archives. U.S National Archives and Record Administration. 2012. 13 April 2014. Guelzo, Allen. Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation: The End Of Slavery in America. Simon and Schuster. 2004. Media. Pruitt, Sarah “5 Things You May Not Know About Lincoln, Slavery, and Emancipation” History. Readers Companion to American History. 2012. web. 30 October 2013.

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