The Emancipation Proclamation That Didn't Free Anyone

That on the first day of January in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty three, all persons held as slaves within any State, or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforth and forever free, and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom. - The Emancipation Proclamation, January 1, 1863.

Did Lincoln really free the slaves? It is something we were all taught in grade school. But like many historical events taught in grade school, it is often deemed necessary to oversimplify this political act for our youngsters. Unfortunately, the myth of Lincoln actually freeing the slaves is rarely reversed when they get older. The fact is, Lincoln had no power over the states in rebellion, nor did his proclamation have the ability to legally free the slaves.

Then what really was the Emancipation Proclamation? At the time Lincoln first thought of the idea in late summer of 1862, the Northern armies were getting battered around the map. General Pope recently got humiliated by Stonewall Jackson's troops at Second Manassas in August, and the North had not experienced a major victory for quite some time. Morale was dropping, and Lincoln was desperate for a military success in the east. That "success" came in the form of a great clash at Antietam Creek, Maryland on September 17. Though the cost in casualties was a combined 23,110 men in one day, General McClellan and Lincoln's cabinet deemed it a victory, mostly because Lee was forced to retreat back into Virginia. The time had come to support the victory with a moral declaration.

The Emancipation Proclamation played several key roles. First, it gave the Union troops a new cause for which to fight. It worked to a point, but many officers and men who were fighting to preserve the Union scoffed at the idea of fighting to free the Negro. Secondly, Lincoln's act gave hope to southern blacks, encouraging them to flee north or to Union lines. It also helped increase the manpower of the Northern armies, something Lincoln knew was needed desperately. Last and probably most important, it was designed to keep England and France from joining the Confederacy. Both nations were highly opposed to slavery, and now that slavery was deemed an enemy of the Union, neither country would ally itself with a Confederacy that fought for the institution. The Proclamation had the effect Lincoln wanted.