ipl-logo

Emancipation Proclamation Dbq

458 Words2 Pages

Darius Pope
Mr. Whitley
HIS 132-620
04 June 2018
Emancipation Proclamation Essay On September 22nd, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued the precursory Emancipation Proclamation. This document was a warning to the rebelling Confederate states and the first attempt to save the union by urging the seceding Southern states to rejoin, declaring that if they did not return to the Union by January 1st, 1863 “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.”
On January 1st, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln released the executive order. The Emancipation Proclamation was originally issued in an attempt to save the Union, but became shifted toward the freedom of slaves when it was clear that he risked separation of the Republican half of his constituency, if he did not act against slavery. Possibly a greater move towards emancipation was the argument that it would weaken the Confederacy and moreover strengthen the Union by eliminating the Southern labor force thus converting this labor pool to the Northern side. This document changed the federal legal status, in designated Southern areas, of enslaved african americans to free. The Emancipation Proclamation was primarily issued as a military strategy to cripple …show more content…

In the beginning of the war, European support was for the South. By issuing the Emancipation, supporting European countries were forced to withdraw their support. Lincoln knew that slavery was outlawed in Britain. It would not be reasonable for England to go against the North, who also strongly opposed slavery. International opinion leaned in favor of the Union and the Proclamation proved to be very popular with the

Open Document