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MAIN IDEA WHY IT MATTERS NOW

The EmancipationProclamationThe EmancipationProclamation

TERMS & NAMESEmancipation

Proclamation

54th MassachusettsRegiment

Calls for EmancipationThroughout the war, abolitionists such as Frederick Douglass had beenurging Lincoln to emancipate enslaved persons. Many criticized the presi-dent for being too cautious. Some even charged that Lincoln’s lack of actionaided the Confederate cause.

Still, Lincoln hesitated. He did not believe he had the power under theConstitution to abolish slavery where it already existed. Nor did he want toanger the four slave states that remained in the Union. He also knew thatmost Northern Democrats, and many Republicans, opposed emancipation.

Lincoln did not want the issue of slavery to divide the nation furtherthan it already had. Although he disliked slavery, the president’s first pri-ority was to preserve the Union. “If I could save the Union without freeing

In 1863, President Lincoln issued theEmancipation Proclamation, whichhelped to change the war’s course.

The Emancipation Proclamation wasan important step in ending slaveryin the United States.

ONE AMERICAN’S STORYDuring the Civil War, abolitionists like Frederick Douglass continued

their fight against slavery. Douglass urged President Lincoln to

emancipate, or free, enslaved Americans. “Sound policy . . . demands

the instant liberation of every slave in the rebel states,” he declared.

A VOICE FROM THE PAST

To fight against slaveholders, without fighting against slavery, is but ahalf-hearted business, and paralyzes the hands engaged in it. . . . Firemust be met with water. . . . War for the destruction of liberty [by theSouth] must be met with war for the destruction of slavery.

Frederick Douglass, quoted in Battle Cry of Freedom

Douglass pointed out that the Confederate war effort depended on

slave labor. Enslaved Americans worked in Southern mines, fields, and

factories. They also built forts and hauled supplies for rebel armies. For

both practical and moral reasons, he said, Lincoln should free the

slaves. In this section, you will learn how ending slavery became an

important goal of the Civil War.

During the Civil War, FrederickDouglass offered advice toPresident Lincoln. He urged thepresident to make the conflict awar against slavery.

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any slave I would do it,” he declared. “If I could save it by freeing all theslaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leavingothers alone, I would also do that.”

By the summer of 1862, however, Lincoln had decided in favor ofemancipation. The war was taking a terrible toll. If freeing the slaveshelped weaken the South, then he would do it. Lincoln waited, however,for a moment when he was in a position of strength. After General Lee’sforces were stopped at Antietam, Lincoln decided to act.

The Emancipation ProclamationOn January 1, 1863, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation,which freed all slaves in Confederate territory. The proclamation had atremendous impact on the public. However, it freed very few slaves.Most of the slaves that Lincoln intended to liberate lived in areas distantfrom the Union troops that could enforce his proclamation.

A VOICE FROM THE PAST

On the first day of January, in theyear of our Lord one thousandeight hundred and sixty-three, allpersons held as slaves within anyState or designated part of aState, the people whereof shallthen be in rebellion against theUnited States, shall be then,[thenceforth], and forever free.

Abraham Lincoln, from theEmancipation Proclamation

Why, critics charged, didLincoln free slaves only in theSouth? The answer was in theConstitution. Because freeing

Southern slaves weakened the Confederacy, the proclamation could beseen as a military action. As commander-in-chief, Lincoln had thisauthority. Yet the Constitution did not give the president the power tofree slaves within the Union. But Lincoln did ask Congress to abolishslavery gradually throughout the land.

Although the Emancipation Proclamation did not free many enslavedpeople at the time it was issued, it was important as a symbolic measure.For the North, the Civil War was no longer a limited war whose maingoal was to preserve the Union. It was a war of liberation.

Response to the ProclamationAbolitionists were thrilled that Lincoln had finally issued theEmancipation Proclamation. “We shout for joy that we live to recordthis righteous decree,” wrote Frederick Douglass. Still, many believedthe law should have gone further. They were upset that Lincoln had notfreed all enslaved persons, including those in the border states.

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Lincoln presentsthe EmancipationProclamation tohis cabinet.

BackgroundIn September1862, Lincolnissued an earlyproclamation thatgave rebelliousstates a chance topreserve slaveryby rejoining theUnion.

A. DrawingConclusions Whydid Lincolnchoose to limithis proclamationmostly to rebel-lious states?A. PossibleResponse Hebelieved that hedid not have theauthority, underthe Constitution,to free slaves else-where.

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Other people in the North, especially Democrats, were angered by thepresident’s decision. Northern Democrats, the majority of whom wereagainst emancipating even Southern slaves, claimed that the proclama-tion would only make the war longer by continuing to anger the South.A newspaperman in Ohio called Lincoln’s proclamation “monstrous,impudent, and heinous . . . insulting to God as to man.”

Most Union soldiers, though, welcomed emancipation. One officernoted that, although few soldiers were abolitionists, most were happy “todestroy everything that . . . gives the rebels strength.”

White Southerners reacted to the proclamation with rage. Althoughit had limited impact in areas outside the reach of Northern armies,many slaves began to run away to Union lines. At the same time thatthese slaves deprived the Confederacy of labor, they also began to pro-vide the Union with soldiers.

African-American SoldiersIn addition to freeing slaves, the Emancipation Proclamation declaredthat African-American men willing to fight “will be received into thearmed service of the United States.”

Frederick Douglass had argued for the recruitment of African-American soldiers since the start of the war. He declared, “Once [you] letthe black man get upon his person the brass letters, U.S. . . . there is nopower on earth which can deny that he has earned the right to citizenship.”

Before the proclamation, the federal government had discouragedthe enlistment of African Americans, and only a few regiments wereformed. After emancipation, African Americans rushed to join thearmy. By war’s end, about 180,000 black soldiers wore the blue uni-form of the Union army.

African-American soldiers were organized in all-black regiments,usually led by white officers. They were often given the worst jobs

B. SummarizingWhy didNorthernDemocratsoppose theEmancipationProclamation?B. PossibleResponse Theywere againstemancipatingSouthern slavesand thought thatit would prolongthe war.

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Thousands of AfricanAmericans, suchas these men ofthe 4th U.S.Colored Troops,fought for theUnion during theCivil War.

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to do and were paid less than white soldiers. Despitethese obstacles, African-American soldiers showedgreat courage on the battlefield and wore their uni-forms with pride. More than one regiment insisted onfighting without pay rather than accepting lower paythan the white soldiers.

The 54th MassachusettsOne unit that insisted on fighting without pay was the54th Massachusetts Regiment, one of the firstAfrican-American regiments organized in the North.The soldiers of the 54th—among whom were two sonsof Frederick Douglass—soon made the regiment themost famous of the Civil War.

The 54th Massachusetts earned its greatest fame inJuly 1863, when it led a heroic attack on Fort Wagnerin South Carolina. The soldiers’ bravery at Fort Wagnermade the 54th a household name in the North andincreased African-American enlistment.

The soldiers of the 54th Massachusetts and otherAfrican-American regiments faced grave dangers ifcaptured. Rather than take African Americans as pris-oners, Confederate soldiers often shot them or returnedthem to slavery.

The war demanded great sacrifices, not only fromsoldiers and prisoners, but also from people back home.In the next section, you will read about the hardshipsthat the Civil War placed on the civilian populations inboth the North and the South.

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2. Taking NotesUse a chart to recordresponses to the Emanci-pation Proclamation.

How did the proclamationchange Northerners’ views ofthe war?

3. Main Ideasa. What was Lincoln’s reasonfor not emancipating slaveswhen the war began?

b. Why was the immediateimpact of the EmancipationProclamation limited?

c. Why did black soldiersoften face greater hardshipsthan white soldiers?

4. Critical ThinkingRecognizing Effects Howdid the EmancipationProclamation change the roleof African Americans in thewar?

THINK ABOUT• how the proclamation

changed military policy• the response of many

Southern slaves to theproclamation

1. Terms & NamesExplain the

significance of:• Emancipation

Proclamation• 54th Massachusetts

Regiment

Section Assessment

ACTIVITY OPTIONS

TECHNOLOGYMUSIC

Do research on the 54th Massachusetts Regiment. Create a Web site for theregiment or write a song about the soldiers’ heroism at Fort Wagner.

AFRICAN AMERICANS INTHE MILITARY

During the Civil War, no African-American soldier was promotedabove the rank of captain. Buttimes have changed. In 1989,General Colin Powell (shownbelow) was made a four-stargeneral and named chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff—thehighest position in the military.

General Powell’s appointmentwas the climax of a long strug-gle to fully integrate Americanarmed forces. From the CivilWar through World War II,African-American soldiers werekept apart from white soldiersand denied equal rights. How-ever, in 1948, President Harry Truman ended segregation in the armed forces. Today theAmerican military is fully integrated.

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C. IdentifyingFacts How didmany black sol-diers protestwhen they wereoffered lowerpay than whitesoldiers?C. PossibleResponse Theyinsisted on fight-ing for free ratherthan take thelower wage.

Responses toProclamation

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