One of the most famous documents in US hisory regarding slavery is the Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Lincoln during the Civil War. Though this document is famed for “freeing the slaves” it is not as noble an endeavor as it seems. It was a risky political bargain taken by the President in hope of helping the Union to win the war. There were many factors and much debate involved in making the final decision, and even afterwards Lincoln was very reluctant and worried over the possible outcomes of issuing such a controvercial Proclamation.
The debate was a feirce one. Lincoln was worried that freeing slaves and accepting them into the Union Army would alienate the border states who were in support of the Union. He also didn’t want to anger anyone in the North who was pro-slavery. The South, however, was using slaves in their war effort and many in the North felt that they needed to counter-act this. Generals like Fremont and Hunter attempted to free slaves and enlist them into the Union army until Lincoln ordered them to stop. General Benjamin Butler made a move to declare all fugitives who happen to find their way to Fort Monroe to be declared “contrabands of war” and though Lincoln was not in support of this, congress agreed and passed the Confiscation Acts which allowed this to be possible. Lincoln feared such acts would be “unconstitutional” and he preferred to have “compensated emancipation” in which slave owners would be paid to free their slaves. This however was only carried out in Washington D.C.
As the war raged on, though, the need for more Union soldiers became imminent. Also, by freeing the slaves the North could help gain British support for the Union and turn them against the South. In the end, Lincoln did issue the Emancipation Proclamation, despite his many reservations and fears over what these outcomes would be. Its overall effects, both negetive and positive, were very evident in the North and South and could be seen in the album attached (click here to view album and read more about the effects of African Americans in the war). Basically, in the end Lincoln’s sole purpose and goal was to help the Union win in any way possible. His intentions are stated quite plainly in a letter he sends to Horace Greeley, editor of the New York Tribune and a devoted abolitionist: “My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I don’t believe it would help to save the Union.” – Abraham Lincoln, “Emancipation or Preservation of the Union?” The New York Times, New York, August 25, 1862
