Emancipation Dbq

First, Abraham Lincoln wasn’t a fan of slavery. He thought that slavery should be abolished. According to document 5 it says “Abraham Lincoln, who had declared “Government cannot endure permanently half slave, half free…”. Lincoln also thought that it should be “Free Speech, Free Homes, and Free Territory”. He thought that blacks should have the right to talk in public and blacks should own their own homes and property. Lincoln wanted all blacks to be free and didn't want racism.

He still did not think blacks should have the right to vote, hold political offices, or marry white people. He also still believed physical differences between the two races would prevent them from living together socially and politically (186). Lincoln was against whites benefitting from slave labor and did feel that blacks should be able to benefit from the fruits of their own labor. According to Dinesh D’Souza in her article “Abraham Lincoln: Tyrant, Hypocrite, or Consummate Statesman”, he was not, however, an abolitionist. Abolitionists wanted an immediate end to slavery and believed the rights of slaves should not be compromised and that they “had a duty to defend freedom, unreservedly, and careless of the consequences” (3).

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).

“Those who deny freedom for the others deserve it not for themselves” (Lincoln). Abraham Lincoln was a very brave voice in the abolitionist movement, who had no fear of standing up for what he thought was right. First, Lincoln believed slavery was wrong and that slaves were treated like animals. He also believed that slavery was against the constitution and that all men were created free and equal. Finally, Lincoln believed that slaves are just people and that whites are not superior to blacks. Abraham Lincoln believed that every part of slavery was wrong, from the constitutional aspect to his true emotions and thoughts on it.

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

Although Lincoln was opposed to enslaving the African Americans, it is possible that he may never have considered them equals. In the late 1850’s, Lincoln was known to have a similar theme in his speeches, where he made it clear to the people that he did not consider the blacks to be an equal race. He wanted to set them free, but Lincoln wanted to have them shipped off to Africa rather than have them live within the union. In his 1858 campaign in Illinois for the Senate against Stephen Douglas, Lincoln spoke to his listeners and said:

Finally, the Confederacy relied on mutual economic interest with England, since England was the main buyer of Southern cotton, and requested the British to join them in the war; however, Emancipation affected the British to join the war, and they lost interest to support the Confederacy. Due to all these factors, Lincoln perceived Emancipation as a political and military necessity. Before, declaring Emancipation, in order to prevent the connection of border slave states to the Confederacy, Lincoln offered Border States gradual Emancipation as well as government compensation to slave owners (P.413). He also advised blacks to move back to Africa, so he signed a contract to send slaves back to Haiti. After abolitionist’s support in congress and

In many of the speeches that Lincoln made, it was evident he was a racist. It's clear that he was prioritizing the Union instead of the freedom of the slaves and was using the slaves for political reasons. For example, Lincoln stated “I am, not ever have been, a supporter of bringing

Pro-slavery would constantly be against anti-slavery and there would never truly be a United States. Lincoln's opinion in slavery was also backed by the Declaration of Independence. "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" (The Declaration of Independence). Lincoln said if we choose to let one man have these rights and not the other, how far will it go? Can an English man have these rights and not a French man? It you say all men are created equal, you have to mean ALL

The Emancipation Proclamation did not end slavery in the United States. In the first place, it did not apply to the border states where slavery was a problem, for reason that it did not secede. Secondly, much of the territory to which the proclamation was applied to was beyond the power of the Federal government, and therefore, it could not be enforced thoroughly. Finally, even Lincoln doubted it would be held legal in peacetime. While the war lasted, most of the slaves remained loyal to their masters. But it satisfied the North who demanded antislavery mandates.

Although the Emancipation Proclamation did not end slavery in the nation, it captured the hearts and imagination of millions of Americans and fundamentally transformed the character of the war. After January 1, 1863, every advance of federal troops expanded the domain of freedom. Besides, the Proclamation announced the acceptance of black men into the Union Army and Navy, enabling the liberated to become liberators. By the end of the war, almost 200,000 black soldiers and sailors had fought for the Union and freedom.

Lincoln always hated slavery, but he was smart enough not to publicly announce it. His public statements on slavery and race have been the cause of controversy throughout the years, as he often seems to almost contradict himself at first glance. However, analyzing the seemingly racist statements he would make shows that they were all part of a bigger plan. Had he simply told the racist audiences that their beliefs were wrong, they would have rejected him outright. Instead, he would use ambiguous language to make it seem as if he shared their beliefs, and then use sound logic to argue in favor of his own point. By doing this, he molded the opinions of his audience in an extremely effective manner.

Lincoln suggests that the institution of slavery be contained by preventing the spread of it to the new territories and Free states, although he had no interest in interfering with the already entitled slave states. He agrees that it was the right of the state to make its own decisions, not the federal government. Although Lincoln did not favor getting involved with abolishing slavery in the already declared slave states, he did favor total abolition in the distant future. He was first worried about stopping the expansion of slavery and then the next step to be taken would have been the "ultimate extinction" of it throughout the states. Lincoln did believe that every white man had no more equality than another. For this is one of the main reasons why at this time a resolution needed to be found in order to keep this equality in the new territories. Lincoln made a valid point in his speech that if slave holders were to settle in a new territory along with people opposed to slavery, which party has the right to decide what type of territory and future state it will be declared as? As for the rights of slaves, Lincoln agreed with Douglas that slaves did not have the same individual rights as everyone else, but he did believe that the liberties given under the Declaration of Independence involved such slaves. It is obvious that the Republicans of this time find slavery as being a "moral, social, and political wrong",

As a Republican President, Abraham Lincoln opposed slavery. He believed it was unnecessary to everyone-including Negros and Whites. However, with his stand on slavery, he held back by declaring that he had no reason to disrupt slavery where it existed. The constitution had protected states where citizens wanted slavery to exist. Lincoln knew he would not get enough support and that the four slave-holding states in the North would turn against him. As a result, the Civil War began in 1861 with more of a political purpose in keeping the union together rather than a battle for human freedom. Slaveholders could not turn to the Union’s side because slaves were valuable and played a vital role to

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).