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Emancipation Proclamation Dbq

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“In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free.” - President Abraham Lincoln
Contrary to popular belief, the Emancipation Proclamation did not free every slave. Thus, the Thirteenth Amendment was necessary to accomplish true emancipation. The President’s edict in 1863 only freed the slaves living in rebellious states. Slavery continued to exist in five states and several other counties and parishes for strategic military purposes. British Lord Russell pointed out the irony: “It does no more than profess to emancipate slaves where the United States authorities cannot make emancipation a reality, and emancipates no one where the decree can be carried into effect.” To justify the Emancipation Proclamation, President Lincoln maintained …show more content…

As Commander in Chief, Lincoln initially wanted to ameliorate relations with the Confederacy by having them return to the Union and cease rebellion. So President Lincoln was cautious to abolish slavery. As he once wrote in a letter, “My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or destroy Slavery.” Fearing the South’s advance in the War, President Lincoln utilized the Union victory at Antietam, to deliver his decree. The Emancipation Proclamation did three things: it undermined the Confederacy's slave economy, created an influx of soldiers for the Union and made the Civil War explicitly about the institution of slavery. Consequently, England and France, who had previously emancipated slaves, did not want to aid the South and fight for slavery as it would be politically detrimental to their national, domestic objectives. Therefore, they remained neutral in America’s internal conflict. Moreover, the Proclamation announced the acceptance of black men into the Union Army and Navy, enabling the liberated to become liberators bolstering a weary Union army. By the end of the war, almost 200,000 black soldiers and sailors had fought for the Union and freedom. Each Union victory was a victory for those who opposed slavery. It gave slaves who were fighting for their freedom a reason to hope again, and it gave those who supported the Union moral support to depend on. However, a fully realized victory did not arrive until the Thirteenth Amendment completed the Emancipation Proclamation and freed all the slaves. This was when the Union truly won the Civil

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