Emancipation Proclamation
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The Emancipation Proclamation was issued on September 22, 1862, and went officially into effect January 1, 1863, during the second year of the American Civil War. It was Abraham Lincoln's declaration that all slaves in the states which had seceded from the Union, and which were not at the time under Federal control, were now emancipated; that is to say, were considered free. The ten affected states were individually named -- with Tennessee not mentioned, and specific exemptions for 48 counties designated as West Virginia, along with New Orleans and several named parishes in Louisiana.
After the outbreak of the Civil War, numerous slaves volunteered to fight for their freedom on the Union side, and there were also disputes about what to do with slaves in conquered territories. A strict application of existing policy would have required return of fugitive slaves to their Confederate masters, but in 1862March 13, the federal government forbade all Union army officers from returning fugitive slaves, thus effectively annulling the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850. On 1862April 10, Congress declared the federal government would compensate slave owners who freed their slaves. All slaves in the District of Columbia were freed in this way on 1862April 16. On 1862June 19 Congress prohibited slavery in United States territories, thus nullifying the 1857 decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in the Dred Scott Case, which had ruled that Congress was powerless to regulate slavery in the territories.
The Emancipation Proclamation itself had little immediate effect, since it was impossible for the Federal government to implement it in those regions where it actually applied--namely the states in rebellion that were not under Federal control--except as such territory was conquered. "This document did not do what most people think. It freed the slaves only in the South. It did not stop slavery in the border states where Lincoln could have stopped it immediately." Slaves in the border states (Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri and West Virginia) which remained loyal to the Union were not affected, and slavery there was legal until the ratification of the thirteenth amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1865. Thus the impact of the proclamation was more symbolic than real. William Seward, Lincoln's Secretary of State, commented on this by remarking, "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."
However, Lincoln believed he had no constitutional authority to free the slaves except in those states where it was deemed a military necessity in order to suppress the rebellion, and freeing slaves was still a risky political act given that there were still slave states loyal to the union, and the initial war aims were centered on preserving the union rather than freeing slaves. As such, the proclamation was a military order issued by Lincoln in his capacity as Commander-in-Chief. The Emancipation Proclamation also allowed for the admittance of freed slaves into the (then-segregated) United States military, an unusual opportunity taken by nearly 200,000 black men, many of them former slaves. This gave the North an additional manpower resource that their opponent would not dare emulate until the final days before its defeat.
Lincoln first discussed the proclamation with his cabinet in July 1862, but because of the political implications of this act (including the presence of slave states within the Union), he felt that he needed a Union victory in the Civil War before he could issue it. After the Battle of Antietam, in which Union troops turned back a Confederate invasion of Maryland, he issued a preliminary proclamation on September 22, 1862. The final proclamation was then issued in January of the following year.
Despite the lack of any immediate effect on the slaves, the proclamation represented a shift in the attitudes of the North towards its war objectives, where merely reuniting the nation would no longer become the sole outcome. It represented a major step toward the ultimate abolition of slavery in the United States.
In the military, the reaction to this proclamation varied widely with some units coming to near mutiny in protest, and desertions were reported because of it. On the other hand, other units were inspired with the adoption of a cause that seemed to them to ennoble their efforts such that at least one unit took up the motto, "For Union and Liberty."
Abroad, as Lincoln hoped, the Proclamation turned foreign popular opinion in favor of the Union for its new commitment to end slavery. That shift ended any hope of the Confederacy of gaining official recognition, particularly with the United Kingdom.
External link
- The text of the Emancipation proclamation
- First Edition Emancipation Proclamation in 1862 Harper's Weekly
- Chronology of Emancipation during the Civil War
