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Emancipation Proclamation Dbq

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By July 1862, the Union army was having an extremely difficult time gaining any victories or advances in the Civil War. After many, many losses to the Confederate Army, Lincoln was desperate to find a way to recruit soldiers that would be of help to the Union. After the bombardment of Fort Sumter, Lincoln’s fist concern was the preservation of the United States. Amrita Chakrabarti Myers, associate professor of history in the Indiana University Bloomington College of Arts and Science, stated that, “Lincoln was clear that this was not about slaves. It was about the Union and whatever he needed to do to save the Union, he would do.” Yet in order to preserve the Union, Lincoln knew that he would ultimately have to abolish slavery. He …show more content…

In September of 1862, after a draft of the Emancipation Proclamation was released to the public New York Evening Post Editor, William Cullen Bryant editorialized: "Its puts us right before Europe.. It brings back our traditions; it animates our soldiers with the same spirit which led our forefathers to victory under Washington; they are fighting today, as the Revolutionary patriots fought, in the interests of the human race..” Abolitionists rejoiced at the Proclamation, for it finally showed a glimpse of a possibility that one day slavery in the United Sates of America would be non-existent. However, in Eric Coker’s article, Acclaimed historian discusses Lincoln and slavery, he states …show more content…

[That] Union leaders realized that giving the runaway slaves back to their owners was not an option; it only aided the Confederates cause, [and] by not returning them, the Union not only gained a source of labor - and, later, soldiers - they denied the source of labor to the enemy.”
Levine’s comment really confirms that the Emancipation Proclamation and every movement to abolish slavery during the Civil War wasn’t actually to grant the slaves freedom, but rather to weaken the Confederate army and even the Confederate’s labor system. It only appeared to to be such a large movement for anti-slavery because they coincidentally benefitted from these strategic movements by the Union. In addition, the Emancipation Proclamation gained mixed emotions from the northern states, an article in the New York Times recalled that abolitionists “looked glum, and grumbled with dissatisfaction because the unexpected proclamation was only given on account of military necessity.” Yet, in the same article Henry Ward Beecher was quoted as saying “the Proclamation may not free a single slave, but it gives liberty a moral

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In this Document, President Lincoln declared that all slaves in rebellion states were to be “forever free” at the issued date of the document. Although this Document did not in fact free most slaves , it was considered to be one of the most important turning points of the war, and it had preserved the fight for freedom in the nation at the time. When the Emancipation Proclamation had taken its effect, a couple million salves were freed. Lincoln, at first, had no stance on Slavery, mostly at the beginning of his term, however that had changed, and when this document was issued, it was clear that President Lincoln was not in favor of slavery. However, slavery still existed in the South (Confederate States) until there was a victor, and in this

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There is some debate on whether or not the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 truly freed the slaves of the south. There is evidence proving that the proclamation in fact did not actually emancipate slaves like it should have according to the document. Full emancipation did not come until after the end of the Civil War. Lincoln used the Emancipation Proclamation as a war tactic against the south. And although it claims to free the slaves immediately, Lincoln did not have that kind of power over the south.

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On September 2nd, 1862, Abraham Lincoln famously signed the Emancipation Proclamation. After that, there’s been much debate on whether Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation truly played a role in freeing the slaves with many arguments opposing or favoring this issue. In Vincent Harding’s essay, The Blood-red Ironies of God, Harding argues in his thesis that Lincoln did not help to emancipate the slaves but that rather the slaves “self-emancipated” themselves through the war. On the opposition, Allen C Guelzo ’s essay, Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation: The End of Slavery in America, argues in favor of the Emancipation Proclamation and Guelzo acknowledges Lincoln for the abolishment of slavery through the Emancipation Proclamation.

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The Emancipation Proclamation is perhaps the most misunderstood document that has shaped American history. Contradictory to the legend, Abraham Lincoln did not simply free four million slaves with a stroke of his pen. The proclamation barely ensured the eventual death of slavery, the matter left as a possibility - assuming the Union won the war. In reality, the Emancipation Proclamation was no more than an act of propaganda, issued for the purpose of weakening the Confederacy and assuring Union victory. July 1862, Congress established 2 laws based on the premise of weakening the Confederacy.

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As the Battle of Antietam closed on September 17, the Union victory made significant ground, which allowed for President Lincoln to release the Emancipation Proclamation with meaning. Warranted by the Constitution and military necessity, the Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves in the states participating in rebellion, ultimately diminishing Southern morale and production. The Emancipation Proclamation reads, “I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States are and henceforward shall be free; and that the Executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons.” Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation is a very legalistic document, deriving its foundation from the law itself. In a letter to O.H. Browning, Lincoln explained what the document did not allow, “it is not for him to fix their permanent future condition.

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