United States History Student Edition

C

The Emancipation Proclamation At the beginning of the Civil War, President Lincoln viewed the conflict as a fight to preserve the Union, not a fight to end slavery. Even though Lincoln hated the institution of slavery, the Constitution did not give him the authority to end it. The Constitution did, however, give the president the power to take property from an enemy during wartime. Thus, the Emancipation Proclamation, which took effect on January 1, 1863, freed enslaved people who were living in the states of rebellion. It did not free enslaved people living in the border states of Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, and Delaware. The Emancipation Proclamation also officially allowed African Americans to serve in the Union army.

PRIMARY SOURCE: DOCUMENT “ That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom. ” — from the Emancipation Proclamation, September 22, 1862 EXAMINE THE SOURCE 1. Analyzing To what was Lincoln referring when he said “any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States”?

2. Making Connections Why does Lincoln state “and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, . . . will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom”? How was this new law different from what Americans were expected to do previously if they encountered enslaved people who had escaped?

PHOTO: Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division [LC-DIG-pga-02797]; TEXT: Emancipation Proclamation, January 1, 1863; Presidential Proclamations, 1791-1991; Record Group 11; General Records of the United States Government; National Archives.

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