Did Abraham Lincoln The Great Emancipator Dbq

In Document B, Lincoln gives his speech to a religious group in Chicago, before the Emancipation Proclamation was put into effect. There he was selling the idea that the blacks should be freed, but making sure that his audience knew what precautions he wanted to avoid (e.g., arming the blacks, which could lead to the hands of the rebels stated in Document B). In another speech, in Document E, Lincoln is reciting a speech to the Democratic Party, his opposing party; which shows that he was talking to all groups, not just his own. He tells the Democrats, that they cannot avoid slavery if they want to preserve the Union. He stated in Document E, “I issued the proclamation on purpose to aid you in saving the Union.” Lincoln explains that the Emancipation Proclamation was put into order to help the Democrats save the Union. However, this is not really one of Lincoln’s reasons for the proclamation. He is basically just having the Democrats agree on his new order in order to help/ join the war. Lincoln uses his mind tricks to make the Democratic Party feel guilty for not aiding/fighting to free the “negroes,” quoted in Document E; which at this time in August 26, 1863, the South is winning the war. Because the South is winning the war, the Emancipation Proclamation was made to mislead/ trick Europe into entering the war. Lincoln is using his experience of being a lawyer to

This clearly shows that Lincoln was not out for the Negro but just to preserve the union. He says in many other debates that he thought the Negro had a physical difference from the white man as well as an intellectual difference (Lincoln-Douglas, n. pag.). Lincoln was considered by many in the south to be a bigot, a white supremacist who wanted segregation and opposed civil and political rights for blacks (Oates 21). Stephen B. Oates talks of many of the theories in his book, like that many southerners concluded that Lincoln was with them in the matters of race (22). Many of these examples show that Lincoln was a hypocrite of some sorts. He would appeal to the southerners by making statements that led them to believe that he was against the Negro. Yet he was writing the emancipation proclamation that was supposed to free all of the slaves. This also is debatable that the proclamation freed any slaves at all. The emancipation proclamation is looked at by some as one of the most far-reaching pronouncements ever issued in the United States (Oates 25). Also it is said that the proclamation freed few if any bondsman (Oates 26).

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

Abraham Lincoln believed that to preserve the union, he would need to free slaves, but it was more than that, he needed to find a way to bring the country together as one rather than separation. He said himself, " if I could save the union, without freeing any slave I would do it...", that shows that the abolition of slavery was not Lincoln's number one priority, but he believed it needed to be done in order to preserve the Union.

First, Lincoln had carefully spoke of the slavery issue in difference ways based on the current situation of the country and how he could influence the citizen in gaining their favors. We can clearly see that in his speech on 1854, he had doubt in his mind about what to do with slaves after freeing them. On his debate speech on 1858, he asserted that even when slaves are freed, they should never gain an equal either socially or politically as whites. Lincoln true thoughts had shown in his The Emancipation of Proclamation where he only freed the slaves in the territory which the North had claimed. This would help for the benefits of the Union as slaves freed from the Confederacy would affect the reconstructing of the South

Slavery was a crucial issue on the Union 's diplomatic front with Britain. Lincoln realized that he could use emancipation as a weapon of war as the war was now primarily being fought over slavery. He also wanted to satisfy his own personal hope that everyone everywhere would eventually be free. So in June 1862, Congress passed a law prohibiting slavery in the territories. Lincoln issued the final form of his Emancipation Proclamation (Document F). It stated, “slaves within any State...shall be then, thencefoward, and forever free.” The proclamation had a powerful symbolic effect. It broadened the base of the war by turning it in to a fight for unity.

As Bennett states in his article, Lincoln was opposed to the extension of slavery not out of compassion for suffering black people, but out of devotion to the interests of white people. In his Charlston speech, Lincoln stated, “I am not, nor ever have been in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black race, . . . I will say there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality.” The speech itself shows that Lincoln was opposed to every aspect of the Emancipation Proclamation that he himself issued. Not only that, but Lincoln felt pressured to issue the Emancipation Proclamation by Radical Republicans who were pushing for it to be passed. Furthermore, if Lincoln had not issued the Proclamation, the congress would have done it. Lincoln did not want to give up his power as a president, and signed the document himself. In response to the proclamation, Bennett writes, Lincoln “freed” slaves where he had no power and left them in chains where he had power (page 137). In Lincoln and Colonization, by Richard Blackett, a historian of the abolition movement, The pressures of war forced his hand. As a result, the proclamation contained so many restrictions that observers questioned its effectiveness (page 20).

The Emancipation Proclamation is centered on the concept of freeing the slaves; however, the proclamation did not actually free any slaves but had a greater goal of preserving the Union through European alliance. The Emancipation Proclamation did not free slaves in Union controlled lands but instead freed the slaves where the federal government had no real power. At his inauguration, Lincoln even stated that he has “no lawful right [to] interfere with the institution of slavery in the states where it [already] exists.” Furthermore, Lincoln revealed, in a letter to Horace Greeley that slavery is not even a primary focus of his political agenda when he stated “my paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and it is not either to save or destroy slavery.” This letter also emphasizes Lincoln’s chief interest during the American Civil War – to maintain the Union. Therefore, Lincoln himself indicated that the Emancipation Proclamation’s purpose was to preserve the Union by successfully aiding in closing the door to European intervention in the South.

After the Great Civil War, 3.9 colored slaves became free. This was an intimidating, but relieving fact of this time period for most American people. With that said, President Abraham Lincoln should be called the Great Emancipator. He stalled ending the Civil War in order to get the 13th Amendment passed, which was a really difficult decision for what was going on during this time. His persistence also did not go unnoticed while trying to abolish slavery. And lastly, Abraham personally wished all men in every place could be free of slavery.

Lincoln states "If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it; and if I could by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that." Lincoln was strictly for the Union and if he could save the Union and end slavery he would, but his first thoughts were for the Union, and only the Union. He deals with slavery in this manner because he does not want to upset or cause turmoil in the South. Even though the Civil War was going on, he wants it to end and the Union to be whole.

The Emancipation Proclamation was a carefully crafted speech that was certainly not made overnight. The country had been moving towards it gradually, beginning with the The District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act in April of 1862, which freed all slaves in Washington in return for payment to their owners. The Second Confiscation Act in July of 1862. Stating that if the rebellion were to continue not to end within sixty days, the North would be sanctioned to seize rebel property, namely slaves. However, Lincoln’s ultimate goal was the preservation of the Union and the maintenance of the Constitution, not the freeing of slaves, which is clearly seen in this letter to Kentucky newspaper editor A.G. Hodges. He explains his rationale behind emancipation by stating, “I was, in my best judgment, driven to the alternative of either surrendering the Union and the Constitution, or of laying strong hand upon the colored element. I chose the latter.” Lincoln is referring to allowing African-Americans to join Union military campaigns and fight against the Confederacy. The addition of African-American soldiers would help tip the balance in their favor even more in the North’s favor, helping them to secure important victories. These former slaves

But it is important to see that his First Inaugural Address was given in March of 1861, already after the Southern states had succeded from the nation. What Lincoln was trying to accomplish was to return the Southern states to the union. Lincoln even goes as far as notifying the South that certain Legislatures have been passed to ensure their state rights, and the constitutionalism of slavery, “holding such a provision to now be implied constitutional law,” and that “(he) has no objection to its being made express and irrevocable.” (Majewski, pg. 75). Also, in a letter to Horace

On September 22, 1862, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, issued the first, or preliminary, Emancipation Proclamation. In this document he warned that unless the states of the Confederacy returned to the Union by January 1, 1863, he would declare their slaves to be “forever free.” During the Civil War, he was fighting to save the Union and trying not to free the slaves. Lincoln was quoted to say, “I am not, nor have ever been in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races.” The Emancipation Proclamation illustrated this view.

The answer would be that he wanted to prove his respect to the Constitutional protection of property in 1862. Furthermore, he declared that he will preserve the Union through war if it is what he must do to keep the Southern states from secession after his election and prevent the spreading of slavery. This was all due to the Emancipation Proclamation which was written by Lincoln himself in order to bring the war to its end. The Emancipation Proclamation did not only mark the turning point of the war but it was also to deal with Lincoln’s general who acted by themselves to free the slaves while Lincoln wanted the federal government to act on the issue only. Not only that, the Emancipation Proclamation also had a huge impact in changing the objective of the Northern states to freeing the slaves and from here, the slaves started to entitle Lincoln as “The Great Emancipator,” for his effort in trying to liberate them and letting them fight in the war so that they can prove their strength and bravery, and their willingness to fight for their freedom and against

On July 4th 1862, the confederates surrendered the town of Vicksburg to Ulysses S. Grant. This influenced Lincoln to make the biggest decision of his life. He delivered the Emancipation Proclamation on November 19th, 1863, saying the nation’s fundamental goal is that all men are created equal. He states in the speech, “The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have hallowed it, far above our poor power to add or detract.” He wants the country to understand that we are starting something new. The soldiers have struggled to recreate our country, and that the country needs to take advantage of this opportunity. He has now committing himself to getting rid of slavery. On January 31, 1865, Congress officially ends slavery with the thirteenth amendment. The thirteenth amendment states, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” After many years, slavery has finally ended. Lincoln passed the thirteenth amendment, meaning slavery can no longer exist in his country. This will help recreate the country that has been broken for many years. From February 1863 through April 1865, Lincoln believed the best way for this country to unite was without slavery, contradicting what he believed from the start of his senate race to Post First