Emancipation Proclamation Dbq

Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation was the most influential part of his presidency as it expanded the goals of the Civil War and abolished slavery. The original focus of the Civil war was not to abolish slavery but to preserve the Union Army. Following the Union Army’s win at war and the abolition of slavery, black people were now allowed to join this army. Following Lincoln’s speech, the 13th amendment was put into place by making slavery illegal. It is evident that the Emancipation Proclamation was the most influential and powerful part of Lincoln’s presidency.

During the Civil War President Lincoln announced freeing all enslaved people in the confederate state. As this happened about 4 million people were freed and guaranteed to be treated like whites were treated. The Emancipation Proclamation didn't free any slaves in the Union states, but it was a good step to abolish slavery. Lincoln hoped that the he could win the Union side. He also hoped it would weaken the Confederacy's effort in the war. The Proclamation announced that black men can fight as a soldier in the war. By the end of the war, almost 200,000 black soldiers and sailors had fought for the Union and freedom.

Slavery was a crucial issue on the Union 's diplomatic front with Britain. Lincoln realized that he could use emancipation as a weapon of war as the war was now primarily being fought over slavery. He also wanted to satisfy his own personal hope that everyone everywhere would eventually be free. So in June 1862, Congress passed a law prohibiting slavery in the territories. Lincoln issued the final form of his Emancipation Proclamation (Document F). It stated, “slaves within any State...shall be then, thencefoward, and forever free.” The proclamation had a powerful symbolic effect. It broadened the base of the war by turning it in to a fight for unity.

It created a motivation and another aspect to winning the war. Before the Emancipation Proclamation the only main goal of the war was to preserve the Union, but the proclamation stated that with fighting the war slavery would be abolished as well. The 180,000 slaves that helped fight in the war would be motivated by the proclamation and would not just be fighting to hold off the opponent, they were fighting to free their families and friends still enslaved. People who fought for the total abolition of slavery would be given motivation to keep pushing as their goal was getting closer. The release of the proclamation got slaves retaliating against southern owners and running away and this helped the North. Having the motivation that the North had to win helped them come out with the

Third the Emancipation, the North saw that the light at the end of the tunnel seemed dim and needed to act promptly, if they wanted to win the war and restore the union. So, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. This piece of legislation was enacted to free the slaves in the confederate states and encouraged the slaves to flee in large numbers to the union border lines. This affected the contribution of the war on the confederate states by taking their laborers (Dunning

By exercising his war powers to seize our resources in the South, Lincoln was able to free the slaves here, but he has no similar constitutional power to act against slavery in the states that are loyal to the Union. I guess you can say the Emancipation Proclamation shows how much the Union’s view of the war has changed. When we first started this war, the Union seemed to have wanted to restore the Union, but instead it has become an all-out war in which the Union seems to want to destroy our land and replace it with new propositions and ideas. At the signing of the document, Lincoln spoke these words: ”Fellow citizens, we cannot escape history… The fiery trial through which we pass, will light us down, in honor or dishonor, to the latest generation…

This chapter mainly covers the issue involving the Union and the Proclamation said by Abraham Lincoln. To begin with, Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation of Proclamation on January 1st, 1863. The proclamation stated that all the people who were being held as slaves would be free forever. The problem was that not many people saw emancipation as a goal for the Union due to the fact that not many soldiers would fight if it were for emancipation. Not only that but many of the slaves were used to fight for the Southern cause or to help it and by doing so they were only harming the Northern cause.

The Emancipation Proclamation was to end slavery in all states than just the North. The South did not like it but the black people didn’t want to be owned anymore by someone, but being a slave is better than being a free man, some of the slaves say.. Lincoln signed a document saying that there would be no more slaves in the U.S. and it got in the newspaper and went to everyone. Lincoln was president at that time, he was president through the Civil War.

As Mr. Douglass stated in the October 1862 issue of his newspaper, “The effect of this paper...changes the character of the war in European eyes and gives it an important principle...instead of national pride and interest” (Dudley 167). This quote shows that the Emancipation Proclamation would open the eyes of European nations and show them that the Union and Confederacy are not fighting because they had a simple disagreement and are being petty, but rather that they are passionately fighting for what they each believe to be righteous. Changing the views of a foreign nation is not something that could be done with a “worthless act” that people like Mr. Vallandigham believed the Emancipation Proclamation to be. Another statement made by Mr. Douglass goes to show how the Proclamation would have affected the war greatly. As Mr. Douglass states, “It will disarm all purpose on the part of European Government to intervene in favor of the rebels and thus cast off... one source of rebel power” (Dudley 167). Mr. Vallandigham then states in his speech however that “Of what possible avail was his proclamation of September? Did the South submit? Was she even alarmed?” (Dudley 169). One should see that Mr. Douglass’ statement disproves Mr. Vallandigham’s because the South would indeed be alarmed by the Proclamation due to its

“Beyond its propaganda value for the Union war effort, the proclamation did nothing, and was intended to do nothing” [Guelzo]. The Southern plantation owners weren’t going to release their slaves just because their former president, and their enemies, said so. It was up to the slaves to risk their lives and attempt to join with the union. But, enslaved people were doing this even before the emancipation proclamation, proving Lincoln's actions here to be practically unnecessary.

Actually, the proclamation freed no slaves. It applied only to Confederate territory, where federal officers could not enforce it. The proclamation did not affect slavery in the loyal Border States. Lincoln repeatedly urged those states to free their slaves, and to pay the owners for their loss. He promised financial help from the federal government for this purpose. The failure of the states to follow his advice was one of his great disappointments.

On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, a historic document that marked a pivotal moment in American history. At the time, the United States of America was in the midst of its third year of a bloody civil war, with tensions high and the fate of the nation hanging in the balance. The Emancipation Proclamation declared that all persons who were being held as slaves within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free." This proclamation was not only a military tactic, but also a moral imperative, as it marked a significant step towards the abolition of slavery and the recognition of the basic human rights of all people, regardless of their skin color.

During his election campaign and throughout the early years of the Civil War, Lincoln vehemently denied the rumour that he would mount an attack on slavery. At the outbreak of fighting, he pledged to 'restore the Union, but accept slavery where it existed ', with Congress supporting his position via the Crittendon-Johnson Resolutions. However, during 1862 Lincoln was persuaded for a number of reasons that Negro emancipation as a war measure was both essential and sound. Public opinion seemed to be going that way, Negro slaves were helping the Southern war effort, and a string of defeats had left Northern morale low. A new moral boost to the cause might give weary Union soldiers added impetus in the fight. Furthermore, if the Union fought against slavery, Britain and France could not help the other side, since their 'peculiar institution ' was largely abhorred in both European nations. Having eased the American public into the idea, through speeches that hinted at emancipation, Lincoln finally signed the Proclamation on January 1st 1863, releasing all slaves behind rebel lines. Critics argued that the proclamation went little further than the Second Confiscation Act and it conveniently failed to release prisoners behind Union lines. Nevertheless, Henry Adams summed up public reaction to the Proclamation as an 'almost convulsive reaction in our favour '.

President Abraham Lincoln, sometimes called “The Great Emancipator”, is best remembered today for his Emancipation Proclamation. This proclamation, issued in September 1862 and enacted at the start of 1863, freed all slaves in rebelling states in the Confederacy and had a dramatic impact on the outcome of the Civil War. However, even though Lincoln was morally against the concept of slavery, he had previously stated that he had no intention of abolishing it. Why did he explicitly violate his own word? Multiple factors played a part in Lincoln’s decision to emancipate the slaves. Firstly, as the conflict progressed from a minor rebellion to a full-blown civil war, Lincoln felt that the Emancipation Proclamation would strengthen the Union’s

From the first days of the Civil War, slaves had acted to secure their own liberty. The Emancipation Proclamation confirmed their insistence that the war for the Union must become a war for freedom. It added moral force to the Union cause and strengthened the Union both militarily and politically.