Emancipation Proclamation Dbq

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In today’s world, many people still believe that slavery was completely ended by Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation but surely, that is not a fact. The Emancipation Proclamation is an executive order issued on September 22nd, 1862 by Abraham Lincoln stating that “all slaves in states in rebellion with the Union shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free”. Though the proclamation did pave the way toward the 13th amendment’s abolition, it only allowed slaves mere individual freedom. During the civil war, the federal government didn’t have any governing powers over the south because they were protected by certain indirect slave and slave owner clauses in the Constitution. This proved to be a concerning problem for abolitionists in …show more content…

Although President Lincoln used the Emancipation Proclamation as a war measure, he and the Republican party knew that after the war, the proclamation would probably hold no constitutional validity so the knowing of this issue early allowed for the production of the Thirteenth Amendment. During Lincoln’s term in the house, the Senate, who ratifies or denies amendments to the constitution, was immensely made up of Lincoln supporting republicans which played a huge role in the implementation of this amendment. On April 8th, 1864, by more than the necessary three-fourths vote, the Senate passed the Thirteenth Amendment, which stated that “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except for as a punishment for crime whereof the party should have been convicted, shall exist in the United States of America, or to any place subject to the United States of America’s jurisdiction.” Soon after its ratification, southern states were reintroduced to the Union peacefully and Lincoln immediately began sending troops to the southern states to guarantee that all decrees of Congress were met swiftly. Lincoln never specifically mentioned himself as an abolitionist but due to all his efforts that were disguised as “war measures”, he could be deemed as one. President Abraham Lincoln surely played a large pivotal role in the abolishment of slavery, the strategic contributions in the civil war, and most importantly racial equality but surprisingly has not been remembered as someone who was against anything dealing with slavery someone who supported freedom and liberty for all forms of humanity and one of the presidents who saved the United States of America from a deep abyss of self-inflicted complications. Although the Emancipation Proclamation didn’t fully free every slave after its enactment,