Sep 14, 2007

Lincoln and Emancipation

Abraham Lincoln, the Great Emancipator, is a very complex historical picture. Some say his lifelong dislike of and opposition to slavery led directly to the Emancipation Proclammation. That is an oversimplified and rather narrow view. In fact, as President he held his duty to the Constitution and established traditions of republican government and "states' rights" to exceed his views on slavery in importance.

Not only this sworn duty, but the need to pacify the barder states where slavery was still somewhat prevalent led to his initial policies of supporting slavery by upholding the existing laws. This made little or no difference in the states that had seceded, because to them his Presidency was invalidated by their declaration of indepence from the old union and formation of a new confederacy.

The course of the war, and his personal determination that the union must prevail, along with the eventual realization that the slaves were actually one of the great strengths of the south, and its primary labor force led him to believe that depriving his enemies of this resource was not only an obvious, but a crucial step to winning the war. Thus the Emancipation proclamation, with its qualification that it only applied to states that were "in rebellion" againt the United States. Hence many historians proclaim that he only freed those who he technically had no jurisdiction over. However the emotional response, and the acceptance of negro soldiers that found their way to union lines made a huge impact on both the outcome of the war and the reconstruction period which followed.