Do you think the emancipation of slaves should have extended to the border states
Portrait of President Abraham Lincoln surrounded by the words of the Emancipation Proclamation (1863). Show
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While the Civil War began as a war to restore the Union, not to end slavery, by 1862 President Abraham Lincoln came to believe that he could save the Union only by broadening the goals of the war. The Emancipation Proclamation is generally regarded as marking this sharp change in the goals of Lincoln's war policy. Under his authority as the Commander in Chief, President Lincoln proclaimed the emancipation, or freeing, of the enslaved African Americans living in the states of the Confederacy which were in rebellion. The Proclamation was, in the words of Frederick Douglass, "the first step on the part of the nation in its departure from the thralldom of the ages." Through examination of the original document, related writings of Lincoln as well as little known first person accounts of African Americans during the war, students can return to this "first step" and explore the obstacles and alternatives we faced in making the journey toward "a more perfect Union." Guiding QuestionsWhy and how did President Abraham Lincoln issue the Emancipation Proclamation? What was its impact on the course of the war? Learning ObjectivesEvaluate the provisions of the Emancipation Proclamation and its intended effect on the waging of the Civil War Trace the stages that led to Lincoln's formulation of this policy Explore African American opinion on the Proclamation Document the multifaceted significance of the Emancipation Proclamation within the context of the Civil War era
Subjects & Topic: U.S. History Grade: 9-12 Background President Abraham Lincoln and the Northern States entered the Civil War to preserve the Union rather than to free the slaves, but within a relatively short time emancipation became a necessary war aim. Yet neither Congress nor the president knew exactly what constitutional powers they had in this area; according to the Supreme Court under Chief Justice Roger Brooks Taney, they had none. Lincoln believed that the Constitution gave the Union whatever powers it needed to preserve itself, and that he, as commander-in-chief in a time of war, had the authority to use those powers. Between March and July of 1862, Lincoln advocated compensated emancipation of slaves living in the "border states", i.e., slave states of Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri which remained loyal to the Union. He also endorsed colonization of freed slaves to foreign lands. But by July 1862, the Union war efforts in Virginia were going badly and pressure was growing to remove the Union commander, General George B. McClellan. Mr. Lincoln decided that emancipation of slaves in areas in rebellion was militarily necessary to put an end to secession and was constitutionally justified by his powers as commander in chief. Members of Abraham Lincoln's cabinet gathered at the White House on July 22, 1862, to hear the president read his draft of the Emancipation Proclamation. Written by Lincoln alone, without consultation from his cabinet, the proclamation declared that all persons held as slaves in states that were still in rebellion on January 1, 1863, "shall be then, thenceforward, and forever, free." In September 22 1862, after the Union's victory at Antietam, Lincoln met with his cabinet to refine his July draft and announce what is now known as the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. In this document, he issued an ultimatum to the seceded states: Return to the Union by New Year's Day or freedom will be extended to all slaves within your borders. The decree also left room for a plan of compensated emancipation. No Confederate states took the offer, and on January 1 Lincoln presented the Emancipation Proclamation. At one stroke, Lincoln declared that over 3 million African American slaves "henceforward shall be free," that the "military and naval authorities" would now "recognize and maintain" that freedom, and that these newly freed slaves would "be received into the armed service of the United States" in order to make war on their former masters. This allowed black soldiers to fight for the Union -- soldiers that were desperately needed. It also tied the issue of slavery directly to the war. By the end of the war, almost 200,000 black soldiers and sailors had fought for the Union and freedom. It is important to remember that the Emancipation Proclamation did not free all slaves in the United States. Rather, it declared free only those slaves living in states not under Union control. William Seward, Lincoln's secretary of state, commented, "We show our sympathy with slavery by emancipating slaves where we cannot reach them and holding them in bondage where we can set them free." Lincoln was fully aware of the irony, but he did not want to antagonize the "border states" by setting their slaves free. Intended both as a war and propaganda measure, the Emancipation Proclamation initially had far more symbolic than real impact, because the federal government had no means to enforce it at the time. But the document clearly and irrevocably notified the South and the world that the war was being fought not just to preserve the Union, but to put an end to the "peculiar institution." Eventually, as Union armies occupied more and more southern territory, the Proclamation turned into reality, as thousands of slaves were set free by the advancing federal troops. The proclamation set a national course toward the final abolition of slavery in the United States. No one appreciated better than Lincoln that to make good on the Emancipation Proclamation was dependent on a Union victory. No one was more anxious than Lincoln to take the necessary additional steps to bring about actual freedom. Thus, he proposed that the Republican Party include in its 1864 platform a plank calling for the abolition of slavery by constitutional amendment. The passage of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution on December 18, 1865 declared slavery illegal in every part of the newly restored Union. The Emancipation Proclamation was, in the words of Professor Allen Guelzo, "the single most far-reaching, even revolutionary, act of any American president." Lincoln rated the Proclamation as the greatest of his accomplishments: "It is the central act of my administration and the great event of the nineteenth century." Content Standards NCSS.D2.His.1.9-12. Evaluate how historical events and developments were shaped by unique circumstances of time and place as well as broader historical contexts. NCSS.D2.His.2.9-12. Analyze change and continuity in historical eras. NCSS.D2.His.3.9-12. Use questions generated about individuals and groups to assess how the significance of their actions changes over time and is shaped by the historical context. NCSS.D2.His.4.9-12. Analyze complex and interacting factors that influenced the perspectives of people during different historical eras. NCSS.D2.His.14.9-12. Analyze multiple and complex causes and effects of events in the past. NCSS.D2.His.15.9-12. Distinguish between long-term causes and triggering events in developing a historical argument. NCSS.D2.His.16.9-12. Integrate evidence from multiple relevant historical sources and interpretations into a reasoned argument about the past. Preparation Lesson Activities Activity 1. An Introduction to the Emancipation ProclamationNote: This activity is available as a Study Activity. Begin by having students view the above video produced by the History Channel and then do a careful reading of both the brief description of The Emancipation Proclamation and the text itself available at the National Archives and Records Administration. Have students identify the main features of Proclamation by answering these questions of the document:
Activity 2. The Steps that led to the Emancipation ProclamationNote: This activity is available as a Study Activity. After viewing the National Geographic video on the Emancipation Proclamation, have students organize research teams to investigate the steps that led to the Emancipation Proclamation. In order for students to understand how President Lincoln's war plans changed in the course of the war, have them read the short discussion of President Lincoln's Emancipation Policies. This section includes a timeline, newspaper editorials and cartoons illustrating the issues surrounding emancipation. Call attention to the passages from the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation of 1862 included in the final document. Have student research teams prepare class reports on this preliminary proclamation and other documents that record Lincoln's deliberations on the issue of emancipation. Students will be able to search for terms such as "emancipation" throughout the Lincoln writings online in The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln available via the EDSITEment-reviewed American Memory.
Activity 3. The African American PerspectiveNote: This activity is available as a Study Activity. An important perspective on emancipation is that of African Americans on both sides of the battle lines. For insight into the attitudes of this segment of the population, direct students to the documents in Free at Last: A Documentary History of Slavery, Freedom, and the Civil War which is part of the EDSITEment reviewed Freedmen and Southern Society Project. Ask students to read the letter from the Mother of a Northern Black Soldier to the President, July 31, 1863 and consider the following questions:
Next have students read the letter of a Massachusetts Black Corporal to the President, September 28, 1863 written by Corporal James H. Gooding of the 54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry (the troops celebrated in the film Glory), which complains to Lincoln of unequal pay for white and African American soldiers and consider these questions: What effect if any did the Emancipation Proclamation have on the border states?It applied only to states that had seceded from the United States, leaving slavery untouched in the loyal border states. It also expressly exempted parts of the Confederacy (the Southern secessionist states) that had already come under Northern control.
Why did Lincoln think it was important to keep the border states?The Border States were vital to the success of the Union. They contained significant deposits of mineral resources and were major agricultural areas producing both livestock and grain. Additionally, these states contained transportation and communication lines that were vital to the war.
Did border states allow slavery?In the context of the American Civil War (1861–65), the border states were slave states that did not secede from the Union. They were Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri, and after 1863, the new state of West Virginia.
What was the impact of the Emancipation Proclamation on slavery?The Proclamation itself freed very few slaves, but it was the death knell for slavery in the United States. Eventually, the Emancipation Proclamation led to the proposal and ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which formally abolished slavery throughout the land.
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