Transcript The Emancipation Proclamation--1863

The
Emancipation
Proclamation-1863
Lincoln’s Critics
• Copperheads were attacking Lincoln for the
war
• Abolitionists attacked him for not making
this a war to end slavery
• As the number of deaths mounted, northern
leaders began to question if this was worth
saving the union.
Lincoln and Slavery
• As we know Lincoln did not intend to
end slavery in the south
• He did oppose it but…
• Didn’t feel he had the constitutional
right to do so
• His main goal was to maintain and
protect the union
Slavery: Lincoln’s Dilemma
· The Civil War began as a war to restore the Union, NOT to end slavery.
“My paramount object in this struggle is to
save the Union, and is not either to save or
to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union
without freeing any slave I would do it, and
if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I
would do it; and if I could save it by freeing
some and leaving others alone I would also
do that. What I do about slavery, and the
colored race, I do because I believe it helps
to save the Union; and what I forbear, I
forbear because I do not believe it would
help to save the Union.” – Abraham
Lincoln, in a letter to Horace Greeley
August 22, 1862
Lincoln and Slavery cont.
• “My paramount object in this struggle is to save the
Union, and is not to either save or to destroy slavery. If
I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I
would do it, and if I could save the Union by freeing all
the slaves, I would do it; and if I could save it by
freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also
do that.”
• — President Lincoln
Lincoln and Slavery
• Lincoln was also very worried about the
border states
• If made this war a war to end slavery
then he would lose the border states to
the Confederacy
• Lincoln did also understand how slavery
helped the south DURING THE WAR
Union Slave
States
· Lincoln was afraid that if he ended slavery, it would anger the four
proslavery states in the Union. (DE, MD, KY, and MO)
· Therefore, Lincoln decided to free enslaved African Americans in the
Confederate states only.
Ending slavery to Win the War
• Every slave working in a field or in
a factory freed a white Southerner
to shoot at Union soldiers.
• Gradually, Lincoln came to regard
ending slavery as one more
strategy for winning the war.
The Emancipation Proclamation
• Attitudes about the war changed with increased casualties
– No longer about just saving the Union, the South needed to be punished
for the bloodshed of the war.
– Lincoln convinced to use constitutional power to end slavery, denying the
South the labor needed to continue the war
• Emancipation Proclamation issued on January 1, 1863
– It freed the slaves in all areas in rebellion against the U.S.
– Abolitionists were upset slavery continued in the Union.
– Riots broke out with increased competition for jobs in the North.
– Supporters felt it would shorten the war.
• Overseas reaction
– The British felt Lincoln should have freed all of the slaves.
– With war now about ending slavery, Britain would side with the Union.
African Americans and the War
In the South, African American farm and plantation labor
released white males for the war effort. Slaves performed
many non-combat jobs in the Confederate army.
Escaped slaves for the Union army in various jobs.
They formed Unworked ion army regiments in Louisiana,
South Carolina, and Kansas, serving in segregated units.
Initially used for labor and guard duty, when allowed into
battle they fought heroically.
The 54th Massachusetts Infantry was the most famous unit.
180,000 African Americans served in Union armies, taking
part in 200 battles. More than 38,00 died serving the Union.
The Emancipation
• Lincoln did need a Union victory to
issue his Emancipation Proclamation
• The victory at Antietam was the
victory he needed
• In the fall of 1862, as Lee retreated
south from Antietam, Lincoln
proclaimed that on January 1, 1863,
slaves in areas of rebellion against
the government would be free.
• Then, on New Year's Day, 1863, he
issued the final Emancipation
Proclamation
• “I, Abraham Lincoln,
President of the United States,
by virtue of the power in me
vested as Commander-inChief, of the Army and Navy of
the United States in time of
actual armed rebellion
against the authority and
government of the United
States, and as a fit and
necessary war measure for
suppressing said rebellion …
do order and declare that all
persons held as slaves within
said designated States, and
parts of States, are and
henceforward shall be
free….”
• --What exactly does this
mean???
Emancipation Proclamation (Emancipate – to set free)
· On January 1, 1863, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.
“On the 1st day of January, in the year of our Lord 1863, all persons held
as slaves within any state or…part of a state (whose) people…shall then be
in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and
forever free.”
· Now the
Union had
two goals:
- restore the
Union
- end slavery
in all
Confederate
states
First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation of President
Lincoln by Francis Bicknell Carpenter
Impact of the Proclamation
• This actually had little
impact on freeing slaves
• The E.P. did not affect
the border states
• Slaves were not free in
the border states
• Lincoln could not afford
to lose their loyalty
• Some abolitionists
criticized this because it
did not go far enough to
ending slavery.
How would you feel about the Emancipation
Proclamation if you were…
(1) a slave owner from Texas?
(2) a slave owner from Missouri?
(3) an abolitionist from Massachusetts?
(4) a slave from Georgia?
(5) a slave from Maryland?
(6) Abraham Lincoln?
How would you feel about the Emancipation Proclamation if you
were…
(1) a slave owner from Texas?
“The slaves are free? Not in my state their not. Abraham Lincoln isn’t
my President anymore, so I don’t have to listen to the Emancipation
Proclamation. I only have to free my slaves if the Confederates lose
the war.”
(2) a slave owner from Missouri?
“I knew it was a good idea for us to stay in the Union! I get to keep my
slaves, just like the slave owners in Kentucky, Maryland, and
Delaware get to keep theirs.”
(3) an abolitionist from Massachusetts?
“Hmmm…the Emancipation Proclamation is a good start, but it
doesn’t go far enough. Slavery should be ended in all the states, not
only the one’s in rebellion against the Union!”
How would you feel about the Emancipation Proclamation if you
were…
(4) a slave from Georgia?
“Sweet, I’m free!! Wait a minute, no I’m not. I have to stay a slave
until the Union wins the war!”
(5) a slave from Maryland?
“Man, this stinks. How come the slaves from most of the other
states were freed but I have to remain a slave?”
(6) Abraham Lincoln?
“I wish that I could free the slaves in all of the states immediately.
However, if I free the slaves in the border states, they may switch to
the Confederacy, and I can’t allow that to happen. Anyway, nobody
is really free until we’re able to defeat those Confederate rebels!”
European Reaction
• Perhaps the most significant reaction
occurred in Europe.
• The abolition movement was strong in
England.
• The Emancipation Proclamation, coupled
with news of Lee's defeat at Antietam,
ended any real chance that France and
Great Britain would intervene in the war.