Emancipation Proclamation Essay

959 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Civil war and the impact on society

The signing of the Emancipation Proclamation marked one of many historic days in US history. The document was signed by President Abraham Lincoln, on September 22, 1862. It was a push to end slavery in the south. The Emancipation Proclamation changed society for the better, by giving blacks hope for a brighter future. The process was long, but slavery would be no more. It affected African-Americans, because they were going to finally have their freedom. It also affected the president because he, metaphorically speaking, signed his own death bill.
The signing of the Emancipation Proclamation upset most of southern whites, who were pro-slavery. Soon after the bill was signed, a war broke out between the north and the south. The south didn’t want slavery to cease and they fought the north in a blood shed battle to keep slavery in the south. The war lasted an extended period of time, but the north eventually prevailed.
After the war, slavery had slowly but surely started to come to a stop. The enforcement of the bill hadn’t very successful. Private auctions were being held and human trafficking was still legal during this time period. The final copy of the Emancipation Proclamation was issued by President Abraham Lincoln. The proclamation authorized, along with the end of slavery, the recruitment of African-American Union soldiers.
The speech President Lincoln gave to congress on June 16, 1964, was marked as one of the greatest speeches of all time. The famous quote by President Lincoln, “A house divided against itself, will not stand” was the motto for the civil war. What he meant by that was the United States was no longer united. That if we continue to fight amongst ourselves that we would not, as a single united...

... middle of paper ...

...s.
The speech President Lincoln gave to congress on June 16, 1964, was marked as one of the greatest speeches of all time. The famous quote by President Lincoln, “A house divided against itself, will not stand” was the motto for the civil war. What he meant by that was the United States was no longer united. That if we continue to fight amongst ourselves that we would not, as a single united country, prosper. The speech took a great toll on the congress and it was decided that it would be in the country’s best interest if slavery would be illegalized in the United States of America.
Soon after the Emancipation Proclamation was passed, the thirteenth amendment was presented to congress to stop all slavery. The amendment abolished all forms of slavery in the United States. The law was that if a human is working for you. You are obligated by law to pay them.

Show More
Related

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Lincoln's House Divided By Abraham Lincoln

    992 Words  | 2 Pages

    Lincoln was a very smart lawyer and politician. During his “House Divided” speech he asked the question, “Can we, as a nation, continue together permanently, forever, half slave, and half free?" When he first asked this question, America was slowly gaining the knowledge and realizing that as a nation, it could not possibly exist as half-slave and half-free. It was either one way or the other. “Slavery was unconstitutional and immoral, but not simply on a practical level.” (Greenfield, 2009) Slave states and free states had significantly different and incompatible interests. In 1858, when Lincoln made his “House Divided” speech, he made people think about this question with views if what the end result in America must be.

    Read More

  • Discuss The Differences Between Lincoln And Seward

    718 Words  | 2 Pages

    Unlike today, there was no fast communication methods. The tensions between the "free" and "slave" states was already apparent, thus, inflamed passions now began to result regularly in violence. Under those circumstances, any proposition which restoration of peace and abandoned slavery, were slow to coming. The issue of slavery was no longer a matter which could be argued. President Lincoln and Seward, made some mistakes, by the time of Seward 's famous speech, “irrepressible conflict. " The southern states started to isolate themselves and by the time the Southern States seceded from the Union, the U.S. had virtually become two separate nations and when Lincoln became president, that was the last straw. Because the Southern states felt that President Lincoln 's election was viewed by Southerners as a blow to their well-being and honor. So, some of the wording in the speech sounded like thing were already coming at the end. Therefore, talks were no longer an option, this issues were “irrepressible conflict." war were inevitable. But that 's not absolute, the speech could have been a final call to action, to work together to resolve and complete “the unfinished

    Read More

  • What Caused The Civil War Dbq Analysis

    687 Words  | 2 Pages

    “A house divided against itself cannot stand (Document M)”, said by Abraham Lincoln about how the North and South couldn’t continue being half free and half slave states it would slowly destroy the government that they tried to create. Lincoln also stated that, “Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it… or its advocates will push it forward till it shall become lawful…(Document M)”. Scott Dred a slave while wanting to become a member of the political community as told by the legislative and the historians that, “...a Negro of the African race was regarded by them as an article of property (Document L).” With the help of the rights given to him from the North it was stated that, “..in the territory of the United States north of the line therein mentioned, is not warranted by the Constitution, and is therefore void (Document L).” Politics assisted with the cause of the Civil war because the Southern and Northern views on freedom were too different that their would never be a real resolution that would make both political parties within the states

    Read More

  • What Caused The Civil War Dbq

    554 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the 1860’s the United States weren’t united because of the issue of slavery. The civil war was never just about getting the union back together, but about making it count and getting rid of slavery. The south wanted their slaves and would say they are “-the happiest, and in some, the freest people in the world”. (Doc 5) However, the north knew that was not true because of Harriet Beecher Stowe's “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”. In 1854 when the Kansas-Nebraska act was passed it caused some issues. Anti-slavery supporters were not happy because they did not want expansion of slavery, but the pro-slavery supporters weren’t happy because they wanted slavery everywhere for sure. (Doc. 7)The Kansas-Nebraska act caused trouble before it was even passed, Senator Charles Sumner argued against and attacked pro-slavery men causing Preston Brooks to beat Sumner with a cane. The south praised Brooks while the north felt for Sumner. (Doc 8) In 1858 during his acceptance speech Lincoln said his famous line, “A house divided

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis of The Gettysburg Address

    778 Words  | 2 Pages

    Four and a half months after the Union defeated the Confederacy at the Battle of Gettysburg, Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address on November 19, 1863. He gave the Union soldiers a new perspective on the war and something to fight for. Before the address, the Civil War was based solely on states’ rights. Lincoln’s speech has the essence of America and the ideals that were put into the Declaration of Independence by the founders. The sixteenth president of the United States was capable of using his speech to turn a war on states rights to a war on slavery and upholding the principles that America was founded upon. By turning the Civil War into a war that was about slavery he was able to ensure that no foreign country would recognize the south as an independent nation, thus ensuring Union success in the war. In his speech, Lincoln used the rhetorical devices of juxtaposition, repetition, and parallelism.

    Read More

  • Lincoln Inaugural Address Analysis

    1028 Words  | 3 Pages

    He had just beaten out George B. McClellan for president. McClellan wanted the country split into two- one slave-holding and one free. However, the country had chosen Lincoln, they wanted the country to stay together. People wanted too much of Lincoln. He would have enemies no matter what choice he made. So now, instead of staying passive like he did in his first Inaugural Address, he took a stand in his second. He told the country that God sent the slaves to them early in this country, but now He wanted them gone. The war was a punishment from God for all slaveholders. Lincoln made this a rallying cry for all northerners, telling them that they would fight “until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid by another drawn with the sword.” This war would be bloody, but if they could only keep fighting a little more, there would be success at the

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The House Divided Speech

    799 Words  | 2 Pages

    The House Divided Speech was an address given by Abraham Lincoln in 1858 with the goal to make a distinction between himself and Douglas, and to openly talk about a prognostication for time to come. Unlike Douglas, who had long supported popular sovereignty, under which the settlers in each new territory determine their own place as a slave or free state, Lincoln considered that all states had to be the same in order to become a united country. Although Lincoln’s intentions seemed to be pure, the complication with the speech is that it is not absolutely probable because of the fallacies within its wording. This speech may have appeared to be powerful and even authentic in its upholding points, but the fallacies must be recognized. Among these fallacies are false dilemma, ambiguity, appeal to authority, name-calling, and sequential fallacies.

    Read More

  • Emancipation Proclamation: A Strong War Strategy

    271 Words  | 1 Pages

    If you really look at it the Emancipation Proclamation was used as a strong war strategy during the Civil War. President Abraham Lincoln presented it on January 1st, 1863. The document said to free the slaves in the states that were in rebellion to the Union. This also made African Americans have a bigger role in the war from not only the Emancipation Proclamation itself, but orders following such as General Order No. 143. This war strategy really helped the North win the war against the South.

    Read More

  • Gettysburg Address Rhetorical Analysis

    893 Words  | 2 Pages

    Four and a half months after the Union defeated the Confederacy at the Battle of Gettysburg, Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address on November 19, 1863. He gave the Union soldiers a new perspective on the war and a reason to fight in the Civil War. Before the address, the Civil War was based on states’ rights. Lincoln’s speech has the essence of America and the ideals that were instilled in the Declaration of Independence by the Founders. The sixteenth president of the United States was capable of using his speech to turn a war on states’ rights to a war on slavery and upholding the principles that America was founded upon. By turning the Civil War into a war about slavery he effortlessly ensured that no foreign country would recognize the South as an independent nation, ensuring Union success in the war. In his speech, Lincoln used the rhetorical devices of juxtaposition, repetition, and parallelism, to touch the hearts of its listeners.

    Read More

  • Comparison Of The Civil War: Harriet Tubman And Frederick Douglass

    1509 Words  | 4 Pages

    Contrary to common misconceptions, the Civil War that occurred from 1861 to 1865 was not about slavery or about African American rights. The war was primarily about the northern desire of economic expansion which was in the way of the southern lifestyle. However, slavery was still a huge part of the war and the African Americans poured blood, sweat and tears into fighting for their rights and gaining their equality. Following the Emancipation Proclamation of 1862, black soldiers were allowed to enlist in the war; however, the circumstances differed in different regions. Numerous slaves were able to escape their horrible lives due to influential figures such as Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass who risked their lives in order to free fellow

    Read More

  • Emancipation Proclamation Dbq

    1257 Words  | 3 Pages

    Lincoln initially proposed the thought of the Emancipation Proclamation to his bureau in the mid year of 1862 as a war measure to handicap the Confederacy. Lincoln construed that if the slaves in the Southern states were liberated, then the Confederacy could no more utilize them as workers to bolster the armed force in the field, in this manner impeding the viability of the Confederate war exertion. As an adroit legislator, nonetheless, Lincoln expected to demonstrate that the Union government could authorize the Proclamation and secure the liberated slaves. On September 22, 1862, after the Union "triumph" at the

    Read More

  • The Role Of The Emancipation Proclamation In The Civil War

    312 Words  | 1 Pages

    The Emancipation Proclamation changed the Civil War because they were no longer fighting to preserve the union but now to free slaves. This was an issue for the south because if they lost then they would lose all there slaves. That would affect their economy because the production of recourses would be lower because there would be no one to work the plantations. The north wanted to free slaves because they didn’t agree that it was right to hold people to make them work and to treat them harshly like they did on the plantations. While the Emancipation Proclamation did not free a single slave, it was an important turning point in the war because it was transforming the fight to preserve the nation into a battle for human freedom. The purpose

    Read More

  • Essay On The Emancipation Proclamation

    770 Words  | 2 Pages

    Lincoln 's decision to issue the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, was to up the North 's support so they wouldn 't go to the confederate side. Not only a change in North war, but a change in the slavery, like granting the slaves their freedom so they wouldn 't have any more slave revolts which would cause even more chaos in other words another war. "The Emancipation Proclamation granted freedom to the slaves in the Confederate states if the states did not return to the Union by January 1,1863. In addition, under the proclamation, freedom would only come to the slaves if the Union won the war." Abraham Lincoln president at the time, the northerners also known as the Union, the south also known as the confederates, and slave states still in

    Read More

  • The Emancipation Proclamation of 1863

    1543 Words  | 4 Pages

    Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 during the civil war, as main goal to win the war. Some historians argued that it was based on feelings towards slaves because not only it freed slaves in the South; it was also a huge step for the real abolition of slavery in the United States. While other historians argued that it was a military tactic because it strengthened the Union army, because the emancipated slaves were joining the Union thus providing a larger manpower than the Confederacy . The Emancipation Proclamation emancipated slaves only in the Confederacy and did not apply to the Border-states and the Union states.

    Read More

  • The Emancipation Proclamation

    1746 Words  | 4 Pages

    No doubt, famous historical figure Abraham Lincoln was a key figure for the United States during its Civil War. Whenever he’s spoken of in the educational system, he’s known as the man who freed the slaves. During Lincoln’s presidency, he implemented an order that would forever affect the slaves and the outcome of the Civil War. On September 22, 1862, he released the preliminary announcement for the Emancipation Proclamation. It eventually went into full effect on January 1st, 1863, during the second year of the Civil War. As President Lincoln signed the proclamation on New Year 's day in his office, he quoted, “I never felt more certain, that I was doing right, than signing this paper.”

    Read More

More about Emancipation Proclamation Essay

Open Document