Abraham Lincoln: Emancipation Proclamation

At the beginning of the war Abraham Lincoln’s goal was not to abolish slavery, contrary to popular belief, the only goal of the war was to save the Union. Lincoln did not originally want to abolish slavery because he did not want the loyalty of the four remaining border (slave) states to shift to the Confederacy. He did not agree with the idea of slavery himself, but he also knew that many northerns were opposed to freedom for African Americans.

Because of this dilemma, Lincoln planned on introducing the idea of emancipation slowly. He would do this by limiting it to territory controlled by the Confederacy. When he felt he could free the slaves without threatening the union, Lincoln did so. He was extremely nervous about the timing of his announcement; he wanted it to be perfect.

At this point the war was not looking good for the Union. His major concern was that the Americans would think he was freeing the slaves as a desperate effort to save a hopeless cause. He planned to wait for a Union victory until he announced his emancipation plans. On September 22, 1862 after the Union victory at Antietam Lincoln issued a preliminary proclamation. He then issued the actual Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863.

The Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves in territories not already under Union control. As Union armies moved south, more slaves were freed until all of them in the Confederate territory, which was over three million, were eventually freed. The Emancipation Proclamation made the abolition of slavery an official goal of the Civil War. Lincoln then put his energy into passing of the Thirteenth Amendment to permanently abolish slavery throughout the nation. It was passed by the Congress in early 1865, shortly before his death.

In the end, the state executives fully supported the president's Proclamation. The Emancipation Proclamation showed how Lincoln did what he believed was right, even though he was not sure how the Americans would react to it. This shows that he was courageous, opinionated, and wasn’t afraid to do what what right even when it was difficult.