Emancipation Proclamation Anna Kenig-Ziesler, Paryssa Khazaie, John McKee, and Emma Meyers

The Border States At the start of the war, President Lincoln was very cautious as to what he did. This is because he wanted to keep the Border States (Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, and Delaware) on the side of the Union.

The Border States The Border States were threatening to secede, and Lincoln knew that if they left the Union and joined the Confederacy, the Union didn’t stand a chance in the war. The Border States were what gave the Union the edge in population because the white population of the Border States all together was approximately half of all of the states of the Confederacy.

The Border States There were many rivers, such as the Mississippi, that the Union could only access through the Border States. This gave the Union access to rivers for commerce and transportation of military supplies.

The Border States Had Maryland seceded, the Capitol, Washington D.C., would have been surrounded by Confederate territory, and the Union would probably have been forced to abandon it. The Border States gave the Union army 250,000 soldiers, so had these men gone to the Confederate army, the Union would have almost certainly lost the war.

The Border States and Emancipation The Border States were the only Union states that still had slaves. Lincoln’s goal was to end slavery in these states by having those states implement emancipation gradually using federal funding.

The Border States and Emancipation Lincoln wouldn’t claim emancipation as an aim of the war before he knew that the Border States were strongly on the side of the Union. The reason for this is that it could cause the Border States to secede. After the Border States refused to go along with his plan for voluntary emancipation Lincoln decided to issue the Emancipation Proclamation.

Lincoln and the Constitution Article II, Section 2: “The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States.” Lincoln interpreted this to give him the war power to free the slaves in the Confederacy.

Lincoln and the Constitution Lincoln had to use his war powers to free the slaves in the Confederacy because it was the only way to do it legally (because of the Constitution). In times of peace, only Congress had the power to free the slaves. Lincoln could not free the slaves in the Border States because those states were not in rebellion.

Lincoln and the Constitution By the Constitution, Lincoln, the commander in chief, had the authority during war to confiscate and free any property of the people in rebellion. As the slaves were considered property, it allowed Lincoln to take and free the slaves.

Legal Buildup The first step that Congress took against slavery was when it passed the First Confiscation Act. This allowed the Union army to take any property (such as slaves) that had been used to help the rebellion. This law was not well enforced (Lincoln was not convinced it was constitutional) and it was very difficult to prove which slaves had had masters that helped the rebellion.

Legal Buildup The next move against slavery was when General John C. Frémont declared a law freeing the slaves of rebels in the border state of Missouri. Lincoln revoked this law, worried that it might make Kentucky secede because they were worried the same could happen to them.

Legal Buildup In March 1862, Congress yet again made a move against slavery. They passed a law directly rebuffing the Fugitive Slave Act. It prohibited the army from returning fugitive slaves who had crossed the Union lines to their masters.

Legal Buildup In April, 1862 Congress passed a law for compensated emancipation in Washington D.C. This meant that the Capitol would get paid to emancipate all of their slaves. Then, in June, Congress endorsed a treaty with Britain for a joint elimination of the African slave trade. Also, Congress abolished slavery in the Western territories.

Legal Buildup In July, 1862, the Second Confiscation Act was passed; it said that any slave belonging to a treasonous person was deemed free. Lincoln thought this was unconstitutional because once the master had died the slave should go back to the master’s family according to Article III, Section 3 of the Constitution.

Mounting Pressures After huge pressures on Lincoln, from abolitionists in Congress, to implement emancipation, he finally wrote the first draft in June, 1862. He had been holding back so that he could make sure that the Border States would remain part of the Union, but once he realized that he needed to emancipate the slaves for military reasons, he finally took action. Emancipation would give the Union army huge numbers of black soldiers, giving it the manpower needed to win the war.

Mounting Pressures After Lincoln wrote his first draft of the Emancipation Proclamation, he initially shared it with his cabinet. Over the summer, the pressure on Lincoln from abolitionists escalated (for universal emancipation), and there was even a huge rally in Chicago on September 7. Lincoln also met with a delegation of abolitionists on September 13. However, Lincoln held out, and did not release his proclamation of emancipation until September 22, 1862.

First Draft of the Emancipation Proclamation Finally, in July 1862 Lincoln wrote the first draft of the Emancipation Proclamation. However, he delayed his proclamation because they had recently lost a battle, and he did not want to make it seem like he was releasing it in desperation. Lincoln decided to wait till after their first victory to declare his proclamation.

Battle of Antietam On September 17, 1862 Lincoln got the battle he had been waiting for. The Battle of Antietam was the bloodiest battle ever fought in the war and also the single bloodiest day. The Union army was looking for a decisive win on Northern soil. They did not get this decisive win, but they did force the Confederate army to retreat, winning the battle.

Battle of Antietam Five days later, on September 22, 1862 Lincoln released the Emancipation Proclamation.

Changes Made Between Lincoln’s initial first draft of the proclamation and his final proclamation he made a few changes. The most important one was that he added that the newly emancipated slaves would be allowed to enlist in the Union army.

Goals of the Emancipation Proclamation Lincoln’s immediate goal was to use the Emancipation Proclamation to win the war because it would give the Union army a huge boost in manpower. Lincoln believed that the Emancipation Proclamation would set the Union on the right road to achieve universal emancipation.

Effects of the Emancipation Proclamation The Emancipation Proclamation changed what the war was being fought over. The war changed from a war over power to a moral fight. Even though the Emancipation Proclamation did not legally free slaves in the Border States, slavery essentially crumbled everywhere because slaves left to join the Union army. Maryland and Missouri ended slavery towards the end of the war. The Thirteenth Amendment was passed emancipating all slaves everywhere after the war ended in 1865.