Pros And Cons Of Lincoln's Proclamation

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President Lincoln issued the proclamation on Jan 1st, 1863 when the nation entered its 3rd year in the civil war. The reasoning for signing and enacting the proclamation was to change American life. Pres. Lincoln knew that once the proclamation was signed that everything would change, that African Americans would be considered as part of the American Life versus property of slave owners. President Lincoln was labeled a the great emancipator and he wanted to live up to that name, when he signed the proclamation he had hoped it would elevate the effort and show the people of the nation that he was a great wartime commander in chief. However, the proclamation had great limitations, it only apply to the states that were firmly under union control. …show more content…

It did apply to the vast majority of the south, well over 2-3 million slaves were deemed freed. Again, just because they were freed they had to wait until the union was victorious to be truly free. The book states that the proclamation altered the way of the civil war, which I find true. More African American men were able to enlist into the war and this gave them the driving force to fight even harder for their brothers and sisters freedom. For this new found motivation the soldiers were able to take control of the states and free the slaves, finally giving a new name to American Freedom. On a larger scale it created a new system of labor, politics and race relations for America, life as they knew it would change, but not as quickly as many would have