Emancipation Proclamation

Emancipation Proclamation

When the Civil War began, political leaders of the ruling Republican Party differed with regard to a precise policy concerning slavery. Radical elements within the party pushed for an immediate statement from the federal government abolishing the institution. Others, including Lincoln, initially preferred a more moderate course, but as the war progressed momentum for emancipation grew stronger. Not wanting to announce a major policy shift on slavery until federal armies had achieved a significant victory in the field, Lincoln delayed any announcement on the subject.

Finally in September 1862, after Union forces stopped Robert E.Lee’s invasion of Maryland at Antietam, the president announced his intention to free the slaves using his war powers. Lincoln officially signed the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. The order freed the slaves in the Confederate states but did not apply to the border states of Kentucky, Missouri, Maryland, and Delaware.

While in practical application the proclamation did not free any bondmen in areas under Confederate control, it had a great effect on the war effort.

It transformed the war into a moral struggle to end slavery in addition to preserving the Union, and made it less likely that England would ally itself with a Confederacy fighting to preserve the institution.

The proclamation also clarified the status of those slaves who by the thousands flocked to the Union armies as they made their way through the south.