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Investigating Abraham Lincoln's Decision to Issue the Emancipation Proclamation

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Investigating Abraham Lincoln's Decision to Issue the Emancipation Proclamation

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The Emancipation Proclamation changed the lives of many slaves. It is one of the most important documents in history. Without it, this nation might not be what it is today. Through the analysis of President Abraham Lincoln’s decision to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, a conclusion can be made that the document was an essential part in recognizing the rights of all men to be free regardless of race.

Before the Civil War there were more than three million slaves in The South. Slavery was the basis of southern economy. Slaves grew and tended to crops that made the plantation owners money. Without slaves, The South had nothing.  Slavery was less common in the North because they had factories and less need for slaves. The southerners were afraid that President Abraham Lincoln would end slavery completely, which would cause their economy to collapse. Lincoln did not approve of slavery but he was willing to keep it in The South so that there would not be a war, yet The South still wanted to secede from the Union. When the Civil War began it was about The South’s rebellion and not slavery. The Emancipation Proclamation was issued on January 1, 1863. It was signed and issued by President Abraham Lincoln. The proclamation stated that all persons held as slaves were, and should always be free. However, it only applied to the states that had rebelled against the Union. That excluded the loyal border states who still could own slaves. Although it did not end slavery, it brought the attention of millions of Americans and transformed the character of the war. After the proclamation, African American men were accepted into the Union Army and Navy. By the end of the war, almost two hundred thousand African American soldiers had fought for the Union and freedom.

Although he hated slavery, Abraham Lincoln was not an abolitionist. In the beginning he did not even want to get rid of slavery in the South. Lincoln used the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation as a warning to the South during the war. There were many options about the Emancipation Proclamation but Lincoln felt this was the most important action of his presidency. He could have left it alone and not signed the document, but he said “I never, in my life, felt more certain that I was doing right, than I do in signing this paper, if my name ever goes into history it will be for this act, and my whole soul is in it.”¹ The Emancipation Proclamation paved the way to total abolition of slavery. Although it did not end slavery, it did lead the way. The proclamation initially only freed slaves in the rebellious states, yet it changed the motive of the war to focus on ending slavery.

There were some things that the Emancipation Proclamation did not do. The wording of the document was uncertain. It gave freedom to only the slaves in the rebel states, so any slaves still in the four border states (Kentucky, Maryland, Delaware, and Missouri) were still considered property. It also did not give any other rights, other than freedom. The freed slaves had nowhere to go from there. They also did not get the right to vote, or any other human right until after the war and the 14th and 15th amendments were passed.

The Emancipation Proclamation was a demonstration of President Abraham Lincoln’s executive war powers. The Southern states used slaves to support their armies on the field and to manage the home front so more men could go fight. In a display of his political genius, President Lincoln shrewdly justified the Emancipation Proclamation as a “fit and necessary war measure.”² In addition to the Civil War being focused on the preservation of the Union, it was also aimed at ending slavery.

After the analyzation of President Abraham Lincoln’s decision to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, a conclusion can be drawn that the proclamation has had a huge impact on American History. The proclamation has played a huge role in how history has played out. The Emancipation Proclamation stated “all person held as slaves within any state or designated part of a state… in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.”3 This remains true to this day.

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1.     “10 Facts: The Emancipation Proclamation." Civil War Trust. Accessed December 09, 2017. https://www.civilwar.org/learn/articles/10-facts-emancipation-proclamation.

2.     "Lincoln's Autobiography." Abraham Lincoln's Autobiographies of 1858-60. Accessed December 09, 2017. http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/speeches/autobiog.htm.
3.     “A Spotlight on a Primary Source by Abraham Lincoln: The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History." The Emancipation Proclamation, January 1, 1863 | Gilder Lehrman Institute. Accessed December 09, 2017. https://www.gilderlehrman.org/content/emancipation-proclamation-january-1-1863.