The Emancipation Proclamation is one of the most significant writings and speeches in America’s history. Moreover, it represents the transition from America’s slave-driven society to its abolition. Abraham Lincoln addressed this speech on January 1, 1863, during the Civil War. He declared that “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”((
National Archives. “The Emancipation Proclamation,” January 28, 2022. https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured-documents/emancipation-proclamation#:~:text=President%20Abraham%20Lincoln%20issued%20the,and%20henceforward%20shall%20be%20free.%22.
)) He makes it clear that freedom should be a universal right. The way he writes the speech emphasizes the importance that ending slavery in certain areas of the country is not just a wartime strategy, gaining backing from supporters of this idea. More than that, it is a matter of principle and gives basic human rights. The Proclamation represented the Union’s desire to abolish slavery even if it did not directly release any slaves. The speech also indirectly resulted in the 13th Amendment’s passing in 1865.
Slavery was a prominent issue during that time period. More specifically, it divided societal beliefs and American politics since the country’s founding. When Abraham Lincoln was elected president of the United States in 1860, many in the South thought that his election was a calculated move toward abolishing slavery. He wrote the proclamation “not out of the sudden commitment to abolition, but as a war measure designed to weaken the Confederacy.”(( Foner, Eric. The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery. W. W. Norton & Company, 2010.))He intended to write the Emancipation Proclamation to respond to growing pressures for the Union to stand against slavery. Moreover, Lincoln hoped to cripple the Southern economy by freeing slaves in territory held by the Confederacy, as well as undermining their ability to fight the war. The discussion of slavery and other disagreements caused Southern states to separate from the Union, leading to the Civil War.
At first, the goal of the war was not only trying to end slavery but to mainly preserve the union. However, as the battle dragged on, those in the North questioned the moral backing of the war. They realized that they were fighting to save a country that supported slavery and changed their purpose for fighting. The Union changed its motives and was ultimately fighting for the abolition of slavery. Abolitionists and other anti-slavery activists pressured Lincoln to take a more aggressive stance on slavery. Eventually, he saw the issue as a necessary motive to win the war. Moreover, “…[It] was the most far-reaching executive act in American History, transforming the Civil War into a war to end slavery and laying the foundation for a new birth of freedom in the United States”(( Foner, Eric. The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery. W. W. Norton & Company, 2010.)).
The Emancipation Proclamation was an unprecedented document in American history and was a hard feat for Lincoln to preach. He understood that “the proclamation did not actually free any slaves in the United States, since it did not apply to slaves in the four Union slave states or in most areas of the Confederacy already occupied by Union armies.”((McPherson, James M. The War That Forged a Nation: Why the Civil War Still Matters. Oxford University Press, 2015)) However, it marked a turning point in the abolition of slavery and eventually led to the 13th Amendment. Lincoln had an idea that it might undermine the ability of the Confederacy to fight the war. Moreover, it would help create a moral justification for the Union’s cause.
Examining the language used in the Emancipation Proclamation provides a lot of context as to Lincoln’s intentions in writing this piece. To start, he was careful when framing the document to make it sound like a military necessity instead of a moral imperative. This lensing allowed him to avoid alienating the border states that stayed loyal to the Union while allowing slavery at the same time. In the document, Lincoln refers to slavery as “an evil of gigantic proportions,”(( National Archives. “The Emancipation Proclamation,” January 28, 2022. https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured-documents/emancipation-proclamation#:~:text=President%20Abraham%20Lincoln%20issued%20the,and%20henceforward%20shall%20be%20free.%22)) highlighting the moral imperative to end the practice. The Proclamation impacted American society significantly and helped change the course of the Civil War. Moreover, it paved the way for the end of slavery in the United States.
