Slavery Dbq

During the American Civil War, which took place between 1860-1865, the President of the United States of America, Abraham Lincoln, introduced the Emancipation Proclamation on the 1st of January 1863 which was designed to free all slaves in the rebellion states in the Confederate South. Slavery had played a significant role in the development of the Southern economy and therefore by introducing the Proclamation, Lincoln would hope for two main events to happen, one being the increase of black soldiers in the Union Army in order to defeat the South and the decrease of black slave labour which would hinder the development of the Southern Economy. However, although slaves had contributed to the development of the economy, in the long run slavery

In the early stages of war, Lincoln was “receiving pressure from the abolitionists and had lost to the Confederates in a “series of military victories” (Source F). Abraham Lincoln’s two Confiscation Acts, the first in 1861, “declared that slaves escaping to union lines would be considered contraband” which aided the escaped black man to join the Union army, and the second, in 1862, gave “the president the authority to recruit black men for the Union army” which leads us to believe that the President’s actions with regards to slaves during the Civil war, were motivated by “military strategy and necessity” (Source J). These two acts “provided a policy for military commanders and led the way for the Emancipation Proclamation” (Source F). By 1862, “Lincoln began to see slavery as part of the war and began toying with the idea of emancipation as a way to undermine the Confederate war effort” (Source E). Although the president was helping the slaves to freedom, he realised that in altering their inferior position in the South, his enemy would be weakened and he would have the upper hand. (Source E). Lincoln knew if he abolished slavery he would essentially be crippling the Confederate states. Therefore, he decided to act swiftly, and on the 1 of January 1963, President Lincoln declared the Emancipation Proclamation, and in so doing, legally, provided the slaves with a way to leave their owners (Source