Abraham Lincoln Great Emancipator Essay

The appellation, “The Great Emancipator” is not granted to just any person, but rather it highlights a courageous, respectful, and driven individual. Abraham Lincoln’s contribution to the United States is so grand and captivating, that he is deservingly recognized as America’s greatest president. For example, he abolished slavery, led America through the Civil War, and prevented the Union from splitting apart. Abraham Lincoln is America’s greatest president and was the forceful leader that manipulated America from a state of turmoil into a state of justice and harmony.

The beginning of his speech, Douglass doesn’t acknowledge Lincoln, he refers to the object next to him but does not discuss him specifically. It’s not until later that he addresses Lincoln. Douglass uses Oration in Memory of Abraham Lincoln to discuss how Lincoln is remembered and celebrated for the abolition of slavery but was not the perfect president. He even explicitly states that “...Abraham Lincoln was not, in the fullest sense of the word, either out mam or out model” (Douglass 570), but rather he was “...the white man’s president, entirely devoted to the welfare of white man” (Douglass 570). The rhetorical structure of Douglass’ speech gives celebration to Lincoln but also observes the negative reconstruction for black citizens.

In The Long Emancipation: The Demise of Slavery in the United States, Berlin draws attention to various parts of anti-slavery resistance that often escape consideration. He emphasizes the efforts of African Americans themselves. Berlin brings together main ideas, events, and people who made slave emancipation in the U.S. possible and that American freedom as a complex, disputed process. The author is not focused on speeches, written arguments, and petitions against slavery but with how slaves and free blacks took steps to permanently pull apart forced servitude in the face of crushing hostility. Author Glenn David Brasher of The Peninsula Campaign and the Necessity of Emancipation: African Americans and the Fight for Freedom zooms in and focuses

o Lincoln 's reputation as the great emancipator rests largely on his emancipation proclamation, an executive order which went into effect on January 1st, 1863. This order ostensibly freed all the slaves in territory currently rebelling against the United States, i.e. in areas where the US government had no authority to free slaves. This is rather like the United States announcing that, from here on out, North Korea would be ruled by Lady Gaga. Sure, it 's a great idea, but it 's not really your jurisdiction. In areas where the US did have the authority to free slaves--the border states and some of the areas of the Confederacy that had been effectively conquered and occupied by federal troops, those slaves were not freed. So Lincoln

The Emancipation Proclamation is one of the biggest documents in the history of the United States and its effects lasted years after its implementation. On September 22, 1862, Abraham Lincoln announced a preliminary version of the Emancipation Proclamation (Dudley 166). This preliminary version told the basis of President Lincoln’s plan; all slaves who were living in a seceded and rebelling area of the South would be declared “then, thenceforward, and forever free” as of January 1, 1863 (Dudley 167). Whether or not the document would truly make a change in the nation was something that was disputed among many during the time of its issuing. Frederick Douglass was a widely known runaway slave turned abolitionist, speaker, and writer who promoted

There was a speech by Frederick Douglass in which he offered a critiques of Reconstruction policies as, as what he called, “Radically Defected” that freedom had been achieved, citizenship had been achieved, but the former slaves were not granted access to land and no real protection against violence, intimidation, etc. Douglass had given a very courageous speech at the Republican National Convention of 1876, which nominated Rutherford B. Hayes. Douglass challenged the delegates to think about what had and had not been done in Reconstruction. He said “You say you have emancipated us. You have; and I thank you for it. You say you have enfranchised us. You have; and I thank you for it. But what is your emancipation? What is your enfranchisement? What does it all amount to, if the black man, after having been made free by the letter of your law, is unable to exercise that freedom, and, after having been freed from the slaveholder’s lash, he is to be subject to the slaveholder’s shot gun? Oh! You freed us! You emancipated us! I thank you for it. But under what circumstances did you emancipate us? Under what circumstances have you obtained our freedom?” (Speech of Fredrick Douglass at the Republican National Convention of 1876,

On July 5th 1852, Frederick Douglass, carried out this very captivating address at Corinthian Hall in Rochester, New York. He had been invited to speak about what the Fourth of July means for America's black society, and while the first part of his speech honors what the founding fathers did for this country, his speech soon develops into a condemnation of the attitude of American humanity toward slavery. During this time in history was one where the freedom of America was transpiring, being recognized and

According to Matthew Mason’s academic journal “A Missed Opportunity? The Founding, Postcolonial Realities, And The Abolition Of Slavery,” African Americans have been enslaved in America since the early 17th century.” The first slaves were brought by the Dutch to the colony of Jamestown, Virginia to help harvest tobacco. The institution of slavery was practiced in America through the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. Slavery helped to build the economic foundation of the United States. When the Emancipation Proclamation was passed by Abraham Lincoln in the year 1893 it changed the lives of over three million slaves who were reclassified as “slave” to “free.” Former slaves struggled to find their place within this new world of freedom which they had not yet known before. However, African Americans still faced problems such as discrimination, lack of opportunity, stereotyping, and mortality. Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Du Bois both confronted these issues. These two men advocated for the advancement of Black people within society, however in this essay I argue that Du Bois was more effective than Booker T. Washington because of his idea that African Americans should have the same possibility to achieve the same rights as any other race in the United States.

A wise person once said “Your actions mean nothing, if your words mean the opposite,” And Mr. 16th President Lincoln is the only guy that came to mind. Especially when he think he can claim the role of “Great Emancipator.” Lincoln doesn’t want slaves, at all or in the country, also he had no purpose to introduce them as equals, he thinks that the physical difference between them and whites shouldn’t make them involved in politics or social. So when deciding if Lincoln was the “Great Emancipator” it’s clear to see that he wasn’t the “Great Emancipator” Lincoln didn’t even want the slaves in America.

The Emancipation Proclamation consists of two executive orders issued by United States President Abraham Lincoln during the American Civil War. The first one, issued September 22, 1862, declared the freedom of all slaves in any state of the Confederate States of America that did not return to Union control by January 1, 1863. The second order, issued January 1, 1863, named ten specific states where it would apply. Lincoln issued the Executive Order by his authority as "Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy" under Article II, section 2 of the United States Constitution. Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation didn’t free all the slaves, but it kept critical border states from seceding and it

"Two months after Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, one abolitionist wrote that 'to make the proclamation a success, we must make freedom a blessing to the freed.' The question of how to do so would long outlive Lincoln and the Civil War" (Epilogue, p. 361).

     What did Abraham Lincoln do and think regarding slavery during the Civil War? In Abraham's First Inaugural Address he states "I do but quote from one of those speeches when I declare that I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so."" (Pg 53-54) Lincoln did not want the South to be afraid of his Republican Presidency either. That was why he made these statements at his Inauguration about slavery. Lincoln also talks about leaving the returning of fugitive slave clause alone, and keeping it in the Constitution. He

“There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude at any time after the first day of January in the year of our lord.” As the words came out African americans rejoice as they are granted their freedom or so it seems. If you are under 35 you shall not be free until then, if you are you will only have freedom until 1893(30) years, if this is what Lincoln calls “freedom” than this is a pretty sad example for it. Everyone considers Lincoln “The great emancipator” but is he really what he lives up to be with all the praise and attention on the topic? If he can’t admit the idea of the African americans than does can he really consider himself “the great emancipator?”

Even though he naively believed that white men were the supreme race, he was staunchly against slavery as an institution and felt that the Declaration of Independence included black persons. In the same debate, Lincoln goes on to state that he “[does] not perceive that because the white man is to have the superior position the Negro should be denied every thing” (Lincoln). He believed that ‘the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,’ as outlined in the Declaration of Independence, applies to all men, regardless of their color, ethnicity, or culture. This may be attributed to the fact that he had not had many encounters with Black slaves until when he was in his late teens, where it had a profound impact on him (Foner 8).

Abraham Lincoln and Slavery Many Americans believe that Abraham Lincoln was the “Great Emancipator,” the sole individual who ended slavery, and the man who epitomizes freedom. In his brief presidential term, Lincoln dealt with an unstable nation, with the South seceding from the country and in brink of leaving permanently. The differing ideologies between the North and South about the economy and slavery quickly lead to civil war.