Presidents Behaving Goodly: Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation
Perhaps one of the best-known acts of presidential acts of benevolence was The Emancipation Proclamation, an executive order issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863. It proclaimed that all slaves in the ten states that were still in rebellion were now free.
The proclamation was intended as a war measure during the Civil War. It was issued to all segments of the Executive branch of the US government, including the Army and Navy. The order applied to 3.1 million of the approximately 4 million slaves in the U.S. at the time. The Proclamation was issued under the president's constitutional authority as commander in chief of the armed forces, it was not a law passed by Congress.
Lincoln acknowledged, in a famous letter to Horace Greeley on August 22, 1862, that freeing the slaves was not his primary purpose, saving the union was. He wrote:
"I would save the Union. I would save it the shortest way under the Constitution. The sooner the national authority can be restored; the nearer the Union will be 'the Union as it was.' If there be those who would not save the Union, unless they could at the same time save slavery, I do not agree with them. If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time destroy slavery, I do not agree with them. 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 the 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 do not believe it would help to save the Union. I shall do less whenever I shall believe what I am doing hurts the cause, and I shall do more whenever I shall believe doing more will help the cause. I shall try to correct errors when shown to be errors; and I shall adopt new views so fast as they shall appear to be true views."
The Proclamation also ordered that "suitable" persons among the freed slaves could be enrolled into the paid service of United States' forces. It also ordered the Union Army and all other segments of the Executive branch to "recognize and maintain the freedom of" the freed slaves. No compensation was provided for the slaveholders. The proclamation did not outlaw slavery throughout the nation. Lincoln worried that doing so would alienate the border states that remained in the union, but remained neutral in the war. It also did not make the freed slaves citizens.
Between 20,000 to 50,000 slaves in states where the rebellion had already been subdued were immediately emancipated. It could not be enforced in some areas, but as the Union army took control of Confederate regions, the Proclamation enabled the freedom of more than 3 million more slaves in those regions. Prior to the Proclamation, the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 made it the law that escaped slaves were either to be returned to their masters or held in camps as contraband for later return.
The Proclamation only applied to slaves in Confederate states. It did not apply to those in the five slave states that were not in rebellion (Maryland, Kentucky, Missouri, Delaware and West Virginia). Emancipation in those regions would come after the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865, which made slavery illegal everywhere in the United States of America.
Earlier, on September 22, 1862, Lincoln had issued a preliminary proclamation in which he declared that he would order the emancipation of all slaves in any state (or part of a state) that did not end their rebellion against the Union by January 1, 1863. None of the Confederate states did so, so the proclamation that Lincoln signed and issued on January 1, 1863 took effect.
The Emancipation Proclamation outraged white Southerners and also angered some Northern Democrats who believed that it would energize anti-slavery forces and prevent a negotiated peace. But it also served to undermined forces in Europe like Great Britain that were considering intervening in the war to help the Confederacy. The Proclamation also led many slaves to escape from their masters and run behind Union lines in order to obtain their freedom, which among other things removed a significant sector of the labor force from the Confederacy.
The Emancipation Proclamation may have been largely a tactical measure designed to weaken the south during the war. But it was a significant step leading to the outlawing of slavery and the conferring of full citizenship for ex-slaves.
The proclamation was intended as a war measure during the Civil War. It was issued to all segments of the Executive branch of the US government, including the Army and Navy. The order applied to 3.1 million of the approximately 4 million slaves in the U.S. at the time. The Proclamation was issued under the president's constitutional authority as commander in chief of the armed forces, it was not a law passed by Congress.
Lincoln acknowledged, in a famous letter to Horace Greeley on August 22, 1862, that freeing the slaves was not his primary purpose, saving the union was. He wrote:
"I would save the Union. I would save it the shortest way under the Constitution. The sooner the national authority can be restored; the nearer the Union will be 'the Union as it was.' If there be those who would not save the Union, unless they could at the same time save slavery, I do not agree with them. If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time destroy slavery, I do not agree with them. 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 the 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 do not believe it would help to save the Union. I shall do less whenever I shall believe what I am doing hurts the cause, and I shall do more whenever I shall believe doing more will help the cause. I shall try to correct errors when shown to be errors; and I shall adopt new views so fast as they shall appear to be true views."
The Proclamation also ordered that "suitable" persons among the freed slaves could be enrolled into the paid service of United States' forces. It also ordered the Union Army and all other segments of the Executive branch to "recognize and maintain the freedom of" the freed slaves. No compensation was provided for the slaveholders. The proclamation did not outlaw slavery throughout the nation. Lincoln worried that doing so would alienate the border states that remained in the union, but remained neutral in the war. It also did not make the freed slaves citizens.
Between 20,000 to 50,000 slaves in states where the rebellion had already been subdued were immediately emancipated. It could not be enforced in some areas, but as the Union army took control of Confederate regions, the Proclamation enabled the freedom of more than 3 million more slaves in those regions. Prior to the Proclamation, the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 made it the law that escaped slaves were either to be returned to their masters or held in camps as contraband for later return.
The Proclamation only applied to slaves in Confederate states. It did not apply to those in the five slave states that were not in rebellion (Maryland, Kentucky, Missouri, Delaware and West Virginia). Emancipation in those regions would come after the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865, which made slavery illegal everywhere in the United States of America.
Earlier, on September 22, 1862, Lincoln had issued a preliminary proclamation in which he declared that he would order the emancipation of all slaves in any state (or part of a state) that did not end their rebellion against the Union by January 1, 1863. None of the Confederate states did so, so the proclamation that Lincoln signed and issued on January 1, 1863 took effect.
The Emancipation Proclamation outraged white Southerners and also angered some Northern Democrats who believed that it would energize anti-slavery forces and prevent a negotiated peace. But it also served to undermined forces in Europe like Great Britain that were considering intervening in the war to help the Confederacy. The Proclamation also led many slaves to escape from their masters and run behind Union lines in order to obtain their freedom, which among other things removed a significant sector of the labor force from the Confederacy.
The Emancipation Proclamation may have been largely a tactical measure designed to weaken the south during the war. But it was a significant step leading to the outlawing of slavery and the conferring of full citizenship for ex-slaves.