Lincoln and Emancipation

When you left school were you thoroughly convinced that President Lincoln had freed the slaves with the Emancipation Proclamation? Did you realize that slavery actually went on after the war? Let's take another look at this document.

When the Civil War broke out President Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers to help preserve the Union. Lincoln believed that had he called for a war to end slavery volunteers would not have shown up for the war. The reason for this was that industries in the North relied on cheap cotton for their well being

Lincoln was conflicted on the issue of slavery. Indeed he would state that if he had to end slavery to preserve the Union he would but he was willing to let slavery exist if it saved the Union. Lincoln pondered many plans to solve the slavery problem including the purchasing of slaves and sending them back to Africa. It was Frederick Douglass who would remind the president that America's slaves had been here since the early 1600's and were Americans. They did not want to return to Africa.

Lincoln was under tremendous pressure from the radical element of his party and the abolitionists to do something about freeing the slaves, but Lincoln was not convinced about any one solution. He was not willing to go out on a limb and in the process hand victory to the Confederacy. Lincoln declared in September of 1862 that he had no power granted to him under the Constitution to free the slaves. There were those who told him to use his war powers but it was politically risky in that the public, northern Copperhead Democrats who supported the Confederacy, and the loyal border states were opposed to it.

What would happen to change his mind? Somewhere along the way Lincoln came to the conclusion that as a divided nation we could not survive. Lincoln realized that slavery could no longer be denied as an issue, a very important issue. If slavery was not ended we would become a divided country. In July of 1862, Lincoln met with his cabinet to discuss the proclamation. He told them that he was waiting for a victory before he took the first step in the process. The victory at Antietam in September 1862 gave Lincoln his opportunity.

The Proclamation was made up of two executive orders. The first was issued on September 22, 1862. It granted freedom to all slaves"in any state of the Confederate States of America that did not return to Union control by January 1, 1863".On January 1, 1863 the specific states where it was now applicable were listed.

Lauded as a great act at the time keep in mind that in Maryland, Missouri, Kentucky, Delaware, and West Virginia, the border states, the slaves were not freed. Nor were they freed in any southern state or part of a southern state that was already controlled by the Union. Pretty much it was runaway slaves who managed to get across and into the Union lines who obtained there freedom under the Proclamation. As Union forces moved south more and more slaves gained their freedom.

The Emancipation Proclamation was a great first step. It gave slaves in the south hope for what had been a long time coming. The final demise of slavery came with the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment on December 18, 1865