The Emancipation Proclamation greatly affected the Civil War. It helped pave the way for the Union to win the War. But, this great declaration of independence did have some holes. Historians throughout history have thought many things about the Emancipation Proclamation. Many of the historian’s thoughts proved that Lincoln had a greater reason than to “free the slaves.” 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. After the Second
Lincoln wrote the Emancipation Proclamation, and because of that, you would think that it would be moving, like his Gettysburg Address. Lincoln talks about himself in the third person, as “...was issued by the President of the United States…” The last part of the Gettysburg Address says, “That the nation, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people by the people for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” On the other hand, the last part of the Emancipation Proclamation says, “In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.” This shows none of Lincoln’s personality, and Lincoln intended for it to be that way. He did this because he feared that if he put great meaning into it, Southern states would get mad and fight even harder. He also feared that the Supreme Court would review the document and refute it because it contradicted the Bill of Rights. By making it rather dull, Lincoln assumed that he could crush the
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...
...te to win the battle. The idea that it seemed too desperate came from William Seward the Secretary of State. Even though Lincoln did sign the Emancipation Proclamation, it was the Thirteenth Amendment of the Constitution that issued the law to outlaw slavery in all states; therefore it should be the Thirteenth Amendment that was responsible for the freedom of slavery.
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.
Abraham Lincoln became the United States’ sixteenth president during a controversial era in which the Union was in danger over the prospect of slavery. Distraught by the idea that the collapse of the American Union might forever destroy the possibility of a democratic republican government, Lincoln set out to restore the union, claiming that it would not survive if it remained divided. He aimed to protect democracy by ruling secession as illegal. Initially, Lincoln rejected emancipation as a goal of the war, but changed his stance after being pressured by the arrival of an influx of black refugees in Northern camps, and the efforts of radical republicans to use wartime legislation to destroy slavery. As a result, he drafted a general emancipation
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
Lincoln had numerous purposes for his Gettysburg Address. Firstly, it was to be used to dedicate the land where the Battle of Gettysburg had taken place as a cemetery for the fallen Union troops, the most obvious and main reason for his address. His second purpose for the address was to change the war on states’ rights to a war on slavery and upholding the ideals that the founders had created in the Declaration of Independence. By doing this, Lincoln was capable to manipulate countries, such as England and France who had not been fond of slavery for decades, in making them loath the Confederacy and make sure other nations would not recognize the Confederacy as a nation.
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
...h the Confederacy. Even if the goal of the Emancipation Proclamation was to win the war, it was also a moral value because at the end of the war, Lincoln supported the 13th amendment, which ended slavery in the USA. Looking at different sources such as Eric Foner’s “emancipation proclamation” and McPherson James’s “how president Lincoln issued the emancipation proclamation” , it is clear that opinions differed regarding the purpose of the emancipation proclamation, but both of them argued that it was both a military tactic but had also a moral value behind it.
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
By turning the Civil War into a war about slavery he effortlessly ensured that no foreign country would recognize the South as an independent nation, ensuring Union success in the war. In his speech, Lincoln used the rhetorical devices of juxtaposition, repetition, and parallelism, to touch the hearts of its listeners. Lincoln had numerous purposes for the Gettysburg Address. Firstly, it was to be used to dedicate the land where the Battle of Gettysburg had taken place as a cemetery for the fallen troops of both the North and the South, the most apparent and central reason for his address. His second purpose for the address was to transform the war on states’ rights into a war on slavery and upholding the ideals that the Founders had authored in the Declaration of Independence.
On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation; as the country headed toward the third year of the civil war. This proclamation stated: “that all persons held as slaves are, and hence forward shall be free,” however this only applied to the states that were no longer part of the union, leaving slavery untouched in other states. However the Emancipation Proclamation was needed to benefit African Americans.
The issuing of the Emancipation Proclamation and the passage of the 13th amendment are two of Lincoln’s most influential documents enacted during his presidency. The Emancipation Proclamation “...declared over three million slaves in the rebel states of the Confederacy to be ‘thenceforward and forever free’...”(Guelzo). This action eventually took the country to the final abolition of slavery when the 13th amendment was introduced, declaring: “Neither slavery
No doubt, famous historical figure Abraham Lincoln was a key figure for the United States during its Civil War. Whenever he’s spoken of in the educational system, he’s known as the man who freed the slaves. During Lincoln’s presidency, he implemented an order that would forever affect the slaves and the outcome of the Civil War. On September 22, 1862, he released the preliminary announcement for the Emancipation Proclamation. It eventually went into full effect on January 1st, 1863, during the second year of the Civil War. As President Lincoln signed the proclamation on New Year 's day in his office, he quoted, “I never felt more certain, that I was doing right, than signing this paper.”
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.
Lincoln's conquering of his audience's mentality starts at the very beginning of the speech, where he started with an allusion to build up the base of the emotion for the entire speech, the seriousness. ''All men are created equal.'' (35) The phrase from the Declaration of Independence prepares the audience for what is coming next. The Declaration of Independence is not for entertaining; the topic of the speech must be heavy and serious. Starting with a strong phrase grabs the audience's attention instantly. Also, for setting up the mood of the speech, Lincoln i...