Did the Emancipation Proclamation really free the slaves? By: Yvonne White Published: March 5, 2014 History tells us that the Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves. But is that the whole truth? Did it free all the slaves? Or just some of them. How committed was President Abraham Lincoln to black emancipation? What role did the Underground Railroad and the slaves themselves play in emancipation? The answers might be a surprise. The Emancipation Proclamation was one of the most important historical documents for not only the United States but for the world. Initially it was a military tactic to weaken the Confederacy. For President Abraham Lincoln freeing slaves was not the point of the Civil War. The point was to preserve the Union, freeing the slaves could come later. However, President Lincoln came to realize that the slaves were the South’s Achilles’ heel. Although, he came to that point rather slowly. President Lincoln’s views Abraham Lincoln believed that slavery was wrong morally, economically and legally. But he was not an abolitionist. In fact he angered many abolitionists by supporting freed African slaves to colonize the African country of Liberia which had been set up by the American Colonization Society in 1821. On September 18, 1858, Abraham Lincoln was in a debate with his opponent for the U.S. Senate. The opponent accused him of believing in “negro equality”. Lincoln answered that accusation by stating, “I will say then that I am not, nor ever have been in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the black and white races.” He further said that he did not believe that the black slaves were equal to whites. He didn’t think they should be able to vote, marry white women, hold public office or serve on juries. He also believed that blacks and whites would never be able to live happily with each other and it was best for the black slaves to leave the United States. President Lincoln always believed that all men, blacks included, should have the freedom to better their condition and be paid for their work. That is why he knew slavery was wrong. Slowly during his presidency Lincoln’s views on black equality changed slightly over the years. The South relied greatly on black labor. In fact they were practically their entire manual labor force. During the Civil War the black slaves built trenches, repaired bridges and served the officers. Leaving the white soldiers free to fight the war. On the Union side the soldiers were performing these tasks plus fighting the war. This gave the Confederacy a major advantage in the early years of the war and proved their weakness. Slaves planted the seed for emancipation The black slaves in the Deep South like Texas, Georgia and Tennessee never had the chance to escape and get very far. Many were recaptured by slave hunters and returned to their masters to face horrible punishments. Contrary to popular belief the Underground Railroad had almost no effect on this part of the country. However, when the Civil War started and they were taken North to help with the war effort many of them saw an opportunity. And they took advantage of that opportunity every chance they saw. By the summer of 1862, thousands of blacks freed themselves from the grip of slavery by entering behind Union lines. The federal government had no policy to deal with such a flood of humanity. President Lincoln was moved by their bravery and began to think that the Civil War was as much about freeing slaves as it was about preserving the Union. In fact maybe freeing the slaves would lead to preserving the Union. That was how the Emancipation Proclamation was born as a military tactic. But Lincoln needed a victory In July 1862, President Lincoln had his first draft of the Emancipation Proclamation and presented it to his cabinet. But Secretary of State William Seward urged him to not go ahead with it. The reason was that the Union was losing the war and he feared it may look like the act of a desperate man. For the document to really carry weight and authority he needed to be standing on firm ground militarily. He needed a victory and it came at a high cost later that same year. The Battle of Antietam was fought on September 17, 1862, it took the lives of 23,000 men. The bloodiest single day of the Civil War. Even though the causalities were almost equal on both sides it was a strategic victory because it stopped General Lee’s advance on Washington D. C. With this victory the president announced that if the South did surrender he would free the slaves in the Southern states. Their deadline was January 1, 1863. Who the Emancipation Proclamation freed President Lincoln said the Emancipation proclamation was a war tactic to cripple the Confederacy. He called it a “fit and necessary war measure”. It was enforced under his executive war powers and enforced as the Commander-in-Chief of the United States. It freed all slaves in the rebelling Southern states. It did not free any of the escaped slaves that were living in the North. Also it did not free the slaves in the loyal border states of Kentucky, Delaware, Maryland and Missouri. The Confederacy was basically a foreign country. Or at least they saw themselves that way. They had their own flag, president and government. In fact Great Britain and France were ready to recognize their sovereignty until the results of the Battle of Antietam proved they may be a losing cause. When the states succeeded they no longer recognized the authority of President Lincoln nor the powers of the federal government. It could not legally be enforced, therefore in a practical sense it freed absolutely no slaves at all. Watch Night The black slaves had heard about the Emancipation Proclamation in the summer of 1862. So January 1, 1863, was a long awaited day. In fact what has been called Watch Night. is still celebrated in African-American churches to this day every December 31. The black slaves did not concern themselves with executive orders, political maneuvering or military tactics. They just wanted their freedom. With the confidence that President Lincoln had freed them more slaves left their unpaid labors on Southern plantations and moved north. With most of the able bodied men either dead, injured or still fighting miles away there was no one to stop them. The initiative of the black slaves to traverse a war-torn countryside and avoid armed soldiers to get to free land is what gave the Emancipation Proclamation authority. So this document performed two important tasks. One it crippled the Confederacy by removing its labor force. And two it gave the slaves the legal right to leave. The legacy of the Emancipation Proclamation The Emancipation Proclamation led to the end of the Civil War. It erased the free labor force that the Confederacy had been using and encouraged the enslaved population to leave for the safety of the north. It also prevented any possible intervention from Europe. Since slavery had already been abolished there they did not want to be seen condoning slavery in another country. It paved the way for blacks to finally be able to literally fight for their own freedom. Many of the slaves that left the south joined the Union Army and Navy, some 200,000 members strong. But most importantly it led to the final abolition of slavery in the United States for all time. On December 6, 1865, the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution was passed. Even if it was originally a military tactic President Lincoln realized he was signing a very important document and even got a hint of his own legacy. He considered it the most monumental thing he performed as President, “I never, in my life, felt more certain that I was doing right, than I do in signing this paper,” he continued “If my name ever goes into history it will be for this act, and my whole soul is in it.”
Posted on: Wed, 16 Jul 2014 17:13:00 +0000
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