Emancipation Proclamation;
One Step Closer To Freedom
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By: Delaine Powerful
January 23, 2006
US History
The Emancipation Proclamation, written by Abraham Lincoln, was an important document that led to the freeing of slaves. Although few slaves were freed, the document changed the whole character of the war and destined the Confederacy to defeat. Unlike Lincoln’s other speeches and writings the Emancipation did not have poetic language. It was a legal document that featured clear, straightforward language. There were a few reasons that Abraham Lincoln decided that he had to write and sign the Emancipation Proclamation. One of which was the election of 1860. This was when the South drew away from the North and became the Confederate States. He also decided to sign the Emancipation Proclamation was because of all the pleadings. The voices of slaves, including Fredrick Douglass, as well as other close friends of Lincoln, leaked through his thick skull and into his head. It made him realize what the real purpose of the Civil War should be. Even though few slaves were affected, the Emancipation Proclamation showed the world that the Civil War was being fought to end slavery.
In December of 1860, President Lincoln was elected President. Before this took place, Lincoln was dueling against Stephen Douglas for the position of presidency. Stephen Douglas was a democrat who fought against Lincoln for a spot in the Senate. Douglas became a member of the senate and Lincoln was left stranded. When Lincoln tried for the presidency spot Douglas decided to challenge him again for the White House. Stephen started to make people think badly about Lincoln, while they thought good of him. For instance, Stephen Douglas told people Lincoln was an extremist, or one of the “Black Republicans” that wanted to abolish slavery. Stephen also said that Lincoln would ruin the South’s economy or he would force the South to secede from the Union, driving the nation toward Civil War. While he wrongly accused Lincoln of things, he made himself look better. He made himself seem like the moderate candidate who could hold the nation together during these difficult times. Candidates were forced to take sides. One side they could have taken was the Constitutional Union Party; candidate John Bell said slavery should be left alone. The Democratic Party was spilt. Proslavery democrats nominated John C. Breckinridge and Antislavery democrats nominated Stephen Douglas. The Constitutional Union Party was made up of Whigs, a party formed in 1834 by those who opposed President Andrew Jackson’s political policies. Though Lincoln went through a tough time he pulled through and was elected president. Soon after he won, which was in December, the legislature of South Carolina voted 169 to 0 to withdraw from the United States. In January, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana as well departed from the United States and in February, Texas withdrew as well. The states that withdrew from the United States formed the Confederate States; Jefferson Davis was their president. There were a few states that stayed loyal to the Union. The states were Maryland, Delaware, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, and portions of Louisiana and Virginia held by the Federal Army. The reason why some Southern states weren’t a part of the Union was because Lincoln became president. They knew that Lincoln and his party opposed the expansion of American slavery so they were afraid that Lincoln’s administration would discriminate against their slaveholding population. The Southern States did not want to take the risk and they withdrew before anything could happen. Can’t relate back to thesis.
Lincoln was a very shallow man; at first he did not care about the things that did not benefit him, or help to get the South back to the Union. He promised to leave slavery alone in original slave sates; he hoped this promise would help reestablish a close relationship with the North and South. At that time he did not care about how much Africans Americans were being hurt. He also wanted to keep the loyalty of the Border States, so he did not bother to take action on freeing slaves; all Lincoln wanted to do was save the Union. He did not care to save or destroy. He would do whatever it took the save the Union, even if it meant sacrificing hundreds of people who were dying every day, for a free and better place to live. During the Civil War Lincoln changed his mind about freeing the slaves. One reason he changed his mind was because the Union needed soldiers and parts of the South went under Union control. Therefore there were slaves that wanted to fight on the Unions side. Lincoln was urged by his advisors to set them free so they could enlist in the war. Fredrick Douglass accused Lincoln of only caring about a white man’s interest. He said this because the only reason Lincoln did not want to set the slaves free was because it might ruin the loyalty between the loyal states and him. New England newspaper editor, Horace Greeley, urged the President to free at the very least the slaves that were fighting on the Unions side. This way the Union would have more help toward winning the Civil War. The second reason Lincoln changed his mind was because he realized the South was not going to make peace with the North anytime soon. Lincoln realized this since the South was intent on having war, he should just do what he believed was right and free the slaves. A black soldier, born a slave, in Louisiana made a statement to Lincoln,
“Our Union Friends say they are not fighting to free the negro’s, we are fighting for the Union and free navigation of the Mississippi river, very well let the white fight for what they want and we Negroes fight for what we want… liberty must take the day nothing shorter.”
Lincoln heard what the man said and was forced to recognize the truth that it expressed. He then realized the United States of America could not be said to have liberty, equality, and independence while it was being cruel to a large group of people who lived there. It was the voices of the slaves and his advisors that caused Lincoln to react and realize what they were doing was wrong.
At first Lincoln had doubts about writing the document. He thought that if he, the president, could not get the obedience of the Southern states then would he be more effective in enforcing an emancipation proclamation. He also argued that if an order or emancipation, or an order or freeing from restraint, could abolish slavery then why would John Brown, a famous abolitionist, have not done it already? Lincoln soon stopped caring about people’s statements about slavery and decided to do what he thought was right, and he wrote write the Emancipation Proclamation.
The Emancipation Proclamation was a formal announcement that freed few slaves in the Confederate slaves. When some slaves in the South heard of it they broke free from their masters and ran to the North. At first Lincoln “shrank” away from the emancipation because he did not know if four million free African Americans could find a place in the American society. The Emancipation written on July of 1862, it could not be issued until the next Union victory because the Union Armies were being defeated it would seem that the North were freeing the slaves so they could have help. Abraham Lincoln did not issue the preliminary proclamation until that September which was a year and a half into the Civil War. The Confederate states and slaveholders did not pay any attention to the preliminary proclamation so Lincoln issued the final proclamation on January 1, 1863. It was what he called “the central act of my administration.” When he signed the document people knew there was no going back and that when the war was over there would be no way to compromise on slavery. The only way for the Emancipation Proclamation to be effective was if the North won the Civil War, They did. The document declared that
“All persons held as slaves within any state or designated part of a state, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United states, shall be, thenceforward, and forever free”.
This meant that all the slaves that lived in the territory in rebellion against the federal government were free, including the states that withdrew from the Union in 1860. Lincoln was trying to get the slaves free that lived in the South so the South wouldn’t have people to do their labor and make them weapons to win the war. The Emancipation Proclamation did not free any slaves in the North, because there were no slaves to free. It did not free slaves in the Border States because the president did not have the authority to do that; it could only be done by a constitutional amendment or by state legislature. Nor did it apply to any slaves that were already under the Unions control.
After the Emancipation Proclamation was signed it was not uphill from there. There were many people that disagreed with Lincoln and thought that it was not a very sensible thing to do. Democratic newspapers called the Emancipation Proclamation “A wicked, atrocious,, and revolting deed.” The critics demanded that he change the policy. Many people went wild in the summer of 1863. Riots broke out, armed mobs burned the draft office, people assaulted the mayors house, and they killed hundreds of people in the black district in New York. Across the North, peace Democrats were mad because they did not want slavery to end. Lincoln was urged by many people to withdraw the document but he replied with “I am a slow walker, but I never walk backwards.” By saying this Lincoln meant that it had taken him long enough to decide to write the proclamation and that he never takes back his actions that he believes are right. Although many people were disturbed and mad because of the document, many rejoiced. Fredrick Douglass, a black abolitionist, who had criticized Lincoln harshly before the Emancipation Proclamation was written, said, “We shout for joy that we live to record this righteous decree.” Abolitionist, or a reformer who favors abolishing slavery, and African American civil right activist thanked Lincoln for freeing the slaves and allowing them into the US. Army. In their minds, Lincoln had changed the war from being fought to restore the Union, to a war to end slavery. Many slave owners soon realized that slavery was a thing of the past and that they would have to move on and not thing of themselves as the superior race. The Emancipation Proclamation was only a wartime measure designed to weaken the South’s ability to engage in war. Its meaning soon was to forever end American Slavery.
The Emancipation Proclamation did not free all slaves but it had a dramatic effect. Lincoln wanted to end slavery before the war ended, so he worked with the Congress to amend the Constitution. On January 31, 1865, the Congress voted and passed the Thirteenth Amendment. It stated,
“Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”
The remaining slaves in the US were freed by this Amendment. On April 19, 1865, General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses Grant at the Appomattox Court. This surrender marked the end of the Civil War.
The Emancipation Proclamation was a bill that itemized the destinies of four million human beings. It showed Americans and the world that the Civil war was being fought to end slavery. It led to the 13th Amendment that freed all the slaves, but if it had not been for the Emancipation Proclamation, it would have taken a longer time for the slaves to be freed. There were many doubts and concerns about making this proclamation, but soon those uncertainties disappeared and a document was formed. The aftermath of signing this document was terrible but it soon died down and people realized that slavery wasn’t going to come back. The Emancipation Proclamation will be remembered as a big step towards the end of slavery.
List Of Works Cited
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Klingaman, William K. Abraham Lincoln and the Road to Emancipation. New York: Penguin Putnam Inc, 2001
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Miller, Douglas T., “Emancipation Proclamation.” Grolier Multimedia Encyclopaedia Scholastic Library Publishing, 1006 <http://gme.grolier.com>
Tackach, James. The Emancipation Proclamation Abolishing Slavery in the South. California: Lucent Books Inc, 199
Henry, Christopher E. Forever Free. United States of America: Chelsea House Publishers, 1995
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