What impact did the Emancipation Proclamation have on African Americans in the Union?
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The year 1863 was an important one for the rights of African Americans in the United States. The country was in the middle of the Civil War, with Southern states (also called the Confederacy) having seceded — or separated — from the North (the Union). A large reason for the war was slavery, which was permitted in the South. The South believed that without slaves, its economy and everything about the way white Southerners lived would be ruined. President Abraham Lincoln was against slavery, but his main concern was winning the war and bringing the North and South together again. He once wrote: “If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it.” That was the situation in the country on January 1, 1863, when Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation — a long name for a long document (it went on for five pages!). You might have heard that it freed all slaves, but that isn’t true. Only a small number of the country’s 4 million slaves were freed immediately. KidsPost’s Christina Barron talked to the National Archives’s Jennifer Johnson, who agreed to help explain what Lincoln’s words mean and what happened after he wrote them. What is emancipation? Emancipation means to set free. Sally Fickland, a former slave, examined the Emancipation Proclamation in 1947. (National Archives and Records Administration) Who was freed on January 1, 1863? Slaves held within Confederate states that were not under Union control were officially freed. In reality, the South didn’t have to follow Lincoln’s order. Southerners saw themselves as having their own country with their own president, Jefferson Davis. That’s why not many slaves were actually freed that day. After January 1, as Union troops won battles and took over Confederate territory, slaves there were freed. What else did the document do for African Americans? It allowed freed slaves to join the Union army and navy to help free those who were still slaves. By the end of the war, 200,000 African Americans had fought for the Union. Why didn’t Lincoln free all slaves? Because he didn’t have the power to. He signed the proclamation acting as commander-in-chief (the head of the army and navy,) so he could free slaves in states the Union was at war with. Congress had to suggest that the Constitution be changed (with the 13th Amendment in 1865) and most states had to support that change for slavery to end in all of the states. Did the proclamation surprise the Confederacy? No. On September 22, 1862, Lincoln issued a version of the document telling the Confederacy that he would make it official January 1. So if the proclamation didn’t end slavery, why is it a big deal in history? The Emancipation Proclamation changed how people thought about the war. By signing it, Lincoln said that the war wasn’t really about whether states should be able to decide issues such as slavery for themselves. He was saying that the war was about freedom. Lincoln’s words encouraged slaves to escape and start new lives as free people. SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT You may be surprised to realize that the country was divided about slavery. In 2013, the idea of people fighting over whether slavery should continue probably seems ridiculous. But the country was very different 150 years ago. Can you think of an issue the country is debating today that people 150 years from now may think was a silly issue to be fighting about? LEARN MORE: Interesting facts about the Emancipation THINGS TO DO: Exhibitions to visit about the Emancipation READ: Five books for Black History Month LEARN: Who was Rosa Parks? We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. “If my name ever goes into history it will be for this act, and my whole soul is into it.” Lincoln’s Order The proclamation was limited in scope and revolutionary in impact. The war to preserve the Union also became a war to end slavery. Commemorative Print Publishers
throughout the North responded to a demand for copies of Lincoln’s proclamation and produced numerous decorative versions including this engraving by R. A. Dimmick in 1864. “We are all liberated by this proclamation. Everybody is liberated. The white man is liberated, the black man is liberated, the brave men now fighting the battles of their country against rebels and traitors are now liberated.” Frederick Douglass, February 6, 1863 Telegraph Office Inkstand In the summer of 1862, while waiting for the latest news to come into the War Department telegraph office next to the White House, Lincoln began to draft the proclamation using this inkstand. The president sat at the desk of Maj. Thomas T. Eckert, and Lincoln later explained to Eckert that he had been composing a document “giving freedom to the slaves of the South.” Self-Emancipation “Imagine, if you will . . . an army of slaves and fugitives, pushing its way irresistibly toward an army of fighting men. . . . Their arrival among us . . . was like the oncoming of cities.” Union General John Eaton Entering Union Lines Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, June 8, 1861, Library of Congress The First “Contrabands” The Front Lines of Freedom Sibley Tent As African Americans walked away from slavery and into Union lines, the U.S. Army found itself fighting
a war surrounded by men, women, and children. The self-emancipated forced the army and eventually President Lincoln to resolve their status as people not property. The military provided cast-off tents, like this Sibley tent, for African Americans who reached Union lines. One tent could hold 12 to 20 people. Contraband Camp By the first months of war, freed men and women built tent cities or “contraband
camps,” sometimes with assistance from the U.S. Army. This photograph taken in 1865 in Richmond, Virginia, shows the widespread use of the Sibley tent to house freed people. Map of Camps African Americans established makeshift communities as thousands sought freedom. The locations of
these camps followed the path of the army’s advance into the Confederacy. A few were established outside of the South to help house black Americans migrating north out of slavery. Private Gordon, 1863 Private Gordon’s scarred back became a powerful symbol of the human cost of slavery during the Civil War. This photograph, taken during Gordon’s U.S. Army medical examination, was widely sold and circulated to support the Union effort and assist fugitives. After being brutally beaten by an overseer, Gordon escaped slavery in March 1863 and enlisted in the U.S. Army in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Celebrating Emancipation The news of the Emancipation Proclamation was celebrated across Europe and Latin America where, in most countries, emancipation had already occurred. Les Negres affranchis colportant le decret d'affranchissement du president Lincoln, “Fugitive Slaves Crossing the Rappahannock River, Virginia in August, 1862” Recognizing an important piece of history, Timothy O’Sullivan photographed African Americans freeing themselves in 1862. This image of people leaving slavery by the wagonful was picked up by many newspapers and became a common way to portray the mass migration. “Contrabands Building a Levee on the Mississippi Below Baton Rouge” The U.S. Army put African American men, women, and children to work when they came into Union lines. Often the work was difficult and dangerous, especially for those who were malnourished. The death rate soared as generals took the name “contraband” to heart and used freed people to advance the war effort. Word spread, and by late 1862, many African Americans chose to avoid the government camps. F.H. Schell, Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, May 9, 1863 Quartermaster’s Wharf, Alexandria, Virginia, about 1863 Mathew Brady Image GalleryWhat impact did the Emancipation Proclamation have on African Americans in the North?Moreover, the proclamation announced the acceptance of black men into the Union army and navy, enabling the liberated to become liberators. By the end of the war, almost 200,000 black soldiers and sailors had fought for the Union and freedom.
How did the Emancipation Proclamation benefit African Americans in the Union?The Emancipation Proclamation was an executive order issued by Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863. It proclaimed the freedom of slaves in the ten Confederate states still in rebellion. It also decreed that freed slaves could be enlisted in the Union Army, thereby increasing the Union's available manpower.
What effect did the Emancipation Proclamation have on the Union?The Emancipation Proclamation confirmed their insistence that the war for the Union must become a war for freedom. It added moral force to the Union cause and strengthened the Union both militarily and politically.
What was the impact of the Emancipation Proclamation on slavery?Most important, the freedom it promised depended upon Union military victory. Although the Emancipation Proclamation did not end slavery in the nation, it did fundamentally transform the character of the war. After January 1, 1863, every advance of federal troops expanded the domain of freedom.
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