Civil War - the Effects of the Emancipation Proclamation to the Nation

Henry Lee

The effects of the Emancipation proclamation to the nation

Abstract:

  My topic is about the effects of the emancipation proclamation to the nation which was issued by president Lincoln during the civil war. The things I’m really interested is the role it played in the civil war. Initially, the civil war between North and South was fought for the North to prevent the secession of the Southern states and preserve the Union. But later the main purpose of the war was changed to free slaves in the states. After the Emancipation Proclamation was issued, it turned the war point, the free slaves contributed a lot man power for the union army, and helped the North won the war to free the slaves. I found these sources from the text book and online website, like “http://history cooperative.org”.

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     here is one document during the Civil War that is considered to be one of the most important, valuable and impactful of all documents. That document was known as the Emancipation Proclamation. This important document was drafted and issued by Abraham Lincoln on January 1st, 1863 during the Civil War. Many people believe that the emancipation proclamation just simply ended slavery but the truth is more complicated than that. Lincoln was tried to take advantage of the rebellion that was currently happened in the South. This rebellion was called as the Civil War, the North and the South was divided due to the abolish of the slavery. In the states of South of a totally rebellion, it was Abraham Lincoln’s duty to try to preserve the Union. The war itself was still not recognized by the North as a war, because Abraham Lincoln refused to recognize the South as its own nation. While the South prefer to call itself the Confederate states of America,  to the north they were still states of the United States of America.

  Abraham Lincoln started his presidency as the 16th President of America on March 4, 1961, however the southern states whose economy depended heavily on slavery, had already made their intentions clear. If Lincoln won the election of 1860, they will secede from the union. Although Lincoln had repeatedly asserted he had no plan to abolish slavery, the compulsions he faced as the Commander-in-chief of the Union army, persuaded him to free the slaves. The southern states were using the slaves in the war by doing extra supplement. Lincoln felt that this was indirectly make the North side unfair to against their rival in the war, therefore something had to be done to counter it. Also there were calls to include slaves in the Union army, so that the Confederate army’s number could be easily enlarged. So it can be said that the proclamation was more of a war necessary than an act of morality by the government. But the Union would still be a slave nation during the war, although Abraham Lincoln would still holding a flag for a great abolitionist movement, there could be an another purpose that was he tried to weaken the power of the South by free the slaves form their masters, and this is further proved by the fact that the Emancipation Proclamation had only aimed at freeing those slaves who were held in the rebellious southern states. However, we can never deny Lincoln was a abolitionist of slavery. As a politician that could be consider as the best decision during that time.

  During the Civil War, the Southern economy was primarily based on slavery. With the majority of men fighting in the Civil War, slaves were used primarily for reinforcing soldiers, transporting goods, and working in agricultural in the plantations. The South did not have the same level of industry power without slavery, as the North did. Essentially, when Lincoln passed the Emancipation Proclamation it was actually an strategies to weaken the Confederate states by removing one of their strongest methods of production. This decision was primarily political, Lincoln was also eagerly focused on weaken the South. However, regardless of intentions the Emancipation Proclamation basically shifted the purpose of the Civil War. The war was no longer simply preserving the secession of the union, the war was more about ending the slavery. The Emancipation Proclamation was not welcome by everyone, it was a strange political maneuver and even most of Lincoln’s cabinet was uncertain to ensure that the new document would be effective. The reason that the Emancipation Proclamation is such a unsure document is because it was passed as under the President’s war-time powers.

  Normally, the American Presidency has very little power to decree orders. Making laws and legislative control were usually belong to Congress. The President does have the ability to issue the power what is known as an executive order. The president himself has very little power outside of what Congress allows, except in wartime. As the commander-in-chief, the president has the ability to use wartime powers to enforce special laws. The Emancipation Proclamation was one of those laws that Lincoln had used his military powers to enforce.

  One major political effect that the Emancipation Proclamation had was the fact that it invited slaves to serve in the Union Army. Such an action was a brilliant strategic choice. The decision to pass a law that told all slaves from the South that they were free and encouraging them to join in the fight against their former masters was the brilliant maneuver. Ultimately with those permissions, many freed slaves joined the Northern Army, drastically increasing their manpower. The North by the end of the war had over 200,000 African-Americans fighting for them.

  The South was got into a state of turmoil after such an announcement. The proclamation had actually been publicized three times, the first time as a threat, the second time as a more formal announcement and then the third time as the signing of the Proclamation. When the Confederates heard the news, they were in a state of severe disrepair. One of their primary problems was that the North advanced into territories and seized control of Southern land, they would often capture slaves. These slaves were simply restricted as contraband, and not returned to their owners—the South. When the Emancipation Proclamation was announced, all current contraband, fled slaves, were freed at the night when the Emancipation Proclamation was issued. There was no more trade of slaves, unfair treatment of slaves, and they were all be free from that moment. These slave-holders were suddenly felt the property they always hold was suddenly deprived. Combined with the sudden loss of a large number of slaves, and influx of troops that would provide the North with additional forces, the South had found itself in a very tough position. Slaves were now able to escape from the South if they want to move to the North they would be free.