Chapter 15 Section 3



“The Emancipation Proclamation”

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Focus Question: What were the causes and effects of the Emancipation Proclamation?

*The first two years of war were not good for the North, but the North’s victory at Antietam was a turning point.

Emancipating the Enslaved

*Many abolitionists were happy when the war began. They urged Lincoln to end slavery and punish the South for starting the war.

Lincoln Changes His Mind

*Lincoln knew most northerners did not want to end slavery. He feared any action to emancipate, or free, slaves might make the border states secede.

*Lincoln said his goal was to restore the Union, even if that meant letting slavery continue. He stated this in a letter to abolitionist newspaper editor Horace Greeley.

*Gradually, Lincoln realized how important slavery was to the South’s war effort. He told his Cabinet that he intended to issue an Emancipation Proclamation. His Cabinet advised him to wait until after a Union victory on the battlefield.

A Famous Proclamation

*Jan. 1, 1863 – Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation (E.P.). The document had little immediate effect because it freed slaves only in areas that were fighting the Union. Those were places were the Union had no power. The E.P. did not apply to parts of the South already under Union control. Nor did it free anyone in the border states.

*Some abolitionists said the E.P. should be applied throughout the country. White southerners accused Lincoln of trying to cause a slave revolt. Union soldiers welcomed anything that would weaken the South.

Effects of the Proclamation

*The E.P. freed few slaves at first. It changed the Civil War into a struggle for freedom. This was not longer just a fight to save the nation. It was now a fight to end slavery.

*The E.P. also ruined any hopes that Britain would recognize the South’s independence. Britain would not help a gov’t that was fighting to keep people enslaved.

*Lincoln’s E.P. united African Americans in support of the war.

African Americans Help the Union

*When the war began, African American volunteers were not permitted to join the Union army. Although Northern African Americans appealed for the chance to fight for the nation, only after the E.P. were they allowed to serve.

Volunteering for Service

*The E.P. encouraged African Americans to enlist. 189,000 African Americans served in the Union army or navy. >1/2 were former slaves who had escaped or been freed. If captured, they would not be treated as prisoners of war, but would be returned to slavery or killed.

*In navy, black and white sailors served together on warships. In army, black soldiers served in all-black regiments under white officers. They earned less than white soldiers.

*African American fought with pride and courage.

*Most famous attack by African Americans was on Fort Wagner in SC by the 54th Massachusetts Infantry on 7/18/63. The unit volunteered to lead the attack. The unit lost nearly ½ of its soldiers.

*Free northern and emancipated southern African Americans often worked for Union armies as cooks, wagon drivers, and hospital aides.

Resisting Slavery

*In the South, African Americans did what they could to hurt the Confederate war effort. Some provided military and other kinds of information to Union armies. Enslaved people worked slowly or damaged equipment (as before the war). With many slaveholders fighting in the war, large numbers of slaves refused to work.

Review Questions

*How did the proclamation affect the war?

It changed the Civil War into a struggle for freedom, dashed any hopes that Britain would recognize the South’s independence, and united

African Americans in the North in support of the war.

*How did African Americans help the Union cause?

They fought as soldiers, worked in noncombat roles, passed on military information, and refused to work on southern plantations.

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