Transcript Civil War

Civil War
A Call for Freedom
Chapter 15, Section 3
Lincoln and Slavery
The issue of slavery played a huge role throughout
the Civil War.
As the war progressed, attitudes toward slavery
began to change.
Northerners believed that slavery was helping the
war effort in the South.
In the North’s view, anything that weakened
slavery struck a blow against the Confederacy.
Lincoln and Slavery
Lincoln was aware of the
Northern opinion of
slavery.
Lincoln came to the
realization that slavery
was the backbone of the
South.
Every enslaved person
that worked allowed a
Southerner to fight in the
Confederate army.
Lincoln and Slavery
By the summer of
1862, Lincoln had
decided to
emancipate, or free,
all African American
slaves in the South.
On January 1, 1863
Lincoln signed the
Emancipation
Proclamation.
Lincoln and Slavery
“…all persons held as slaves within any
state…in rebellion against the United
States, shall be then, thenceforward, and
forever free.”
Emancipation Proclamation
Because the Emancipation Proclamation
applied only to areas that the Confederacy
controlled, it did not actually free anyone.
The Confederate States of America had
their own government.
Lincoln hoped the slaves in the South would
hear about the proclamation and run away
from their slave holders.
Lincoln and Slavery
The proclamation had a huge effect in
Europe as well.
After Lincoln issued the Emancipation
Proclamation, Britain decided they would
not help aid the Confederacy in the war
effort.
Emancipation
Proclamation
Public
Opinion
Slavery was
helping the
war
effort in the
South.
Prevent
Britain from
Entering the
war.
Place an
end to
slavery.
Lincoln and Slavery
In 1864 Republican
leaders in Congress
prepared a constitutional
amendment to abolish
slavery in the United
States.
In 1865 Congress passed
the Thirteenth
Amendment which
officially freed all
enslaved Americans.
African Americans & the War
When the war began, 3.5 million
enslaved African Americans lived in
the Confederacy and made up 33% of
the region’s population.
Many enslaved African Americans
worked as nurses in military hospitals,
as trench diggers and cooks for the
Confederate army.
African Americans & the War
Slave rebellions terrified white southerners. For
this reason Southerners refused to arm African
Americans and use them as soldiers.
Near the end of the war the Confederacy became
desperate.
In 1865 the Confederate Congress passed a law to
enlist enslaved Africans. The war would end
before these regiments could be organized.
African Americans & the War
At first, African Americans in the North were not
permitted to serve in the Union Army.
Initially, escaped slaves were used as guides due
to their knowledge of the South.
In 1863, when Lincoln delivered the Emancipation
Proclamation. The proclamation supported the
use of African American soldiers. The use of
African American soldiers in the Union Army was
championed by Frederick Douglass.
African American soldiers were
organized into regiments separate
from the rest of the Union army.
Most of the commanding officers
of these regiments were white.
One of the most famous African
American regiments was the 54th
Massachusetts.
Many white southerners threatened
to execute any African American
soldiers they captured. However,
this did not stop African Americans
from enlisting.
By the end of the war, 200,000
African American troops had
served in the Union Army.