The Civil War 1860-1865 - Emancipation

ASU HST 200 (Historical Themes) The Civil War, 1860–1865 Emancipation President Lincoln handled the subject of slavery gingerly in the early stages of the conflict. Even though he personally opposed slavery, he did not think he was in a position to outlaw it. Moreover, he was afraid that by declaring the elimination of slavery a war goal, the border slave states might be persuaded to join the Confederacy. His sole goal in 1861 and 1862 was to bring the Union back together. Thousands of slaves have escaped to the safety of Union lines since the start of the war. Union commander Benjamin Butler and others classified these emancipated slaves as contrabands in May 1861. Butler reasoned that he was not required to abide by federal fugitive slave rules since Southern states had left the country. Slaves who managed to break free and get through the Union defense lines were protected by American forces and never put back into slavery. The idea was not simply to help them but also to take away a lucrative supply of labor for the South. In 1861 and 1862, Congress started defining the status of former slaves. The Confiscation Act of 1861, which gave the Union the authority to take Confederate property—including slaves—was enacted by lawmakers in August of that year. Additional measures were taken by the Republicandominated Congress, which in April 1862 outlawed slavery in Washington, DC. In July 1862, Congress approved a second Confiscation Act that released runaway slaves as well as those taken prisoner by Union forces. Congress also took up the subject of slavery in the West during that month, outlawing it in the territories. The Wilmot Proviso of 1846 and the goals of the Free-Soil Party were realized by this federal statute. The Union government did not enact any legislation to address the system of slavery as a whole, while taking action to assist those who were slaves and to outlaw the practice. Lincoln approached the abolitionist issue warily and deliberately. His main concerns were the restoration of the Southern states to the Union and the unity of the Union. However, Republicans in Congress persisted in demanding the abolition of slavery as the war dragged on and thousands of contrabands made their way north. Lincoln had intended to transfer former slaves to Liberia for the duration of his political career. Lincoln gave up on his attempt to persuade African Americans to establish a colony for previously enslaved people in Central America as late as August 1862 since it was not supported by abolitionists or Black leaders. Shortly after the Confederate withdrawal at Antietam, on September 22, 1862, Lincoln issued an ultimatum to the Confederates in response to Congressional demands for an end to slavery. He allowed the Confederate states to re-join the Union on January 1, 1863. Slavery would persist in the slave states if they did. But if they refused to return, the conflict would go on, and when it was over, all the slaves would be set free. The Confederacy remained silent. It had promised to preserve its independence and was uninterested in complying with the president's demand. Lincoln fulfilled his pledge and issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. The proclamation did not immediately free the people who were held as slaves in the Confederate states. Instead, it declared, "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, thenceforward, and forever free." The Union army was not present in these territories, therefore even if they were rebelling against the US, the president's order could not be carried out. Furthermore, as the border states were not, by definition, in a state of rebellion, the declaration did not free those who were trapped there. Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation by utilizing his authority as the nation's supreme leader. He was aware that the proclamation might be readily contested in court, but he prevented slaveholders and slave governments from suing him by omitting the areas that were still under his jurisdiction. Furthermore, the proclamation did not extend to slave states in the Union like Kentucky, therefore they were unable to file a lawsuit. Kentucky's slaveholders were well aware that the institution would not last in a few border territories if slavery were outlawed throughout the South. Lincoln significantly changed the war's purpose, shifting it more and more toward the abolition of slavery despite the proclamation's limitations. The Emancipation Proclamation proved to be a significant advancement in the process of transforming the American people. Reactions to the declaration were swift and spectacular. Slaves were ecstatic to hear the news since it meant that their servitude would soon come to an end. As was to be expected, the declaration infuriated Confederate officials, who vowed to continue fighting to uphold slavery, the Confederacy's cornerstone. Opinions on the matter were sharply divided in the North. Lincoln's actions were applauded by abolitionists, who considered them as the culmination of their protracted fight to abolish an evil institution. However, other Northerners—particularly Irish, working-class, Democratic Party-affiliated urbanites and those with racist views—hated the new emancipation aim and thought it disgusting that once enslaved people would be liberated. A major economic factor underpinned much of this racism: Northerners were afraid of losing out to freed individuals in the labor market. White racism in New York City was fueled by the Emancipation Proclamation and a growing displeasure with the Union draft, which started in March 1863. For economic reasons, a large number of New Yorkers backed the Confederacy, and the mayor of the city even proposed that New York City secede from the Union in 1861. Two days after the first conscription lottery was held, on July 13, 1863, this hate of race burst into bloodshed. A riot was started by a volunteer fire company whose captain had been recruited, and the violence soon spread throughout the city. The targets selected by the rioters were either African Americans or the Union soldiers. Both an arsenal and a Brooks Brothers store—which provided the soldiers with uniforms—were destroyed. An African American orphanage was demolished and Black New Yorkers were assaulted and killed by white rioters. Lincoln sent federal troops to the city on the fourth day of the rioting, which put a stop to the unrest. Property valued at millions of dollars have been destroyed. Over a thousand people were hurt, over a hundred people perished, and over one-fifth of the African American community in the city departed New York out of terror.