Image Source - Article - Rethinkin' Lincoln on the 150th Birthday of the Emancipation Proclamation by Bill Bigelow
Standard
HS.H1.2 Explain and compare how social, cultural, and environmental factors influenced state-building, expansion, and dissolution.
Learning Target
I can explain multiple causes and effects the Civil War had on the people of the United States.
Instructions
First, read the Introduction below.
Second, open the PDF - A War to Free the Enslaved? and scroll to find Lincoln's First Inaugural Address. Answer the Guided Questions in your notes.
Third, read the Original 13th Amendment. Answer the Guided Question in your notes.
Fourth, read the Emancipation Proclamation. Answer the Guided Question in your notes.
Introduction
Excerpt from Article - Rethinkin' Lincoln on the 150th Birthday of the Emancipation Proclamation by Bill Bigelow
According to historian Eric Foner in his Pulitzer Prize-winning book on Lincoln and slavery, The Fiery Trial, Lincoln:
As the abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, editor of the The Liberator, commented in late 1861, Abraham Lincoln “has evidently not a drop of anti-slavery blood in his veins.”
Lincoln may be remembered today as “the Great Emancipator,” but Lincoln was no abolitionist. His aim throughout his presidency was to keep the Union together, a task fraught with contradictions, as large swaths of the country embraced both the Union and slavery—for example, Missouri, Delaware, Maryland, and Kentucky. As Lincoln himself said famously in August 1862, “My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union.”
Lincoln’s stance on slavery as the war progressed was based on military rather than moral considerations.
And that’s the necessary context for students to approach the Emancipation Proclamation, which took effect 150 years ago, on January 1, 1863. Interestingly, despite the fact that the proclamation is mentioned in virtually every textbook, it is never printed in its entirety. Perhaps that’s because despite its lofty-sounding title, this is no stirring document of liberty and equality; in fact, it does not even criticize slavery. “Emancipation” is presented purely as a measure of military necessity. Lincoln offered freedom to enslaved people in those areas only “in rebellion against the United States.” It reads like a document written by a lawyer—one who happened to be a Commander in Chief—not an abolitionist. It even goes county by county listing areas where slavery would remain in force, “precisely as if this proclamation were not issued.” According to Eric Foner, the proclamation left more than 20 percent of enslaved people still in slavery—800,000 out of 3.9 million.
Guided Notes
Lincoln's First Inaugural Address
Original 13th Amendment
Emancipation Proclamation
HS.H1.2 Explain and compare how social, cultural, and environmental factors influenced state-building, expansion, and dissolution.
Learning Target
I can explain multiple causes and effects the Civil War had on the people of the United States.
Instructions
First, read the Introduction below.
Second, open the PDF - A War to Free the Enslaved? and scroll to find Lincoln's First Inaugural Address. Answer the Guided Questions in your notes.
Third, read the Original 13th Amendment. Answer the Guided Question in your notes.
Fourth, read the Emancipation Proclamation. Answer the Guided Question in your notes.
Introduction
Excerpt from Article - Rethinkin' Lincoln on the 150th Birthday of the Emancipation Proclamation by Bill Bigelow
According to historian Eric Foner in his Pulitzer Prize-winning book on Lincoln and slavery, The Fiery Trial, Lincoln:
- sent that pro-slavery 13th Amendment to the states for ratification;
- agreed to admit New Mexico to the Union as a slave state;
- continued with schemes to deport—“colonize” in the jargon of the day—African Americans, proposing they be sent to Guatemala, Chiriqui (Colombia), and Haiti;
- and in just the first three months after the Civil War began, returned more escaped slaves to their supposed owners than had been returned in the entire presidency of his immediate predecessor, James Buchanan.
As the abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, editor of the The Liberator, commented in late 1861, Abraham Lincoln “has evidently not a drop of anti-slavery blood in his veins.”
Lincoln may be remembered today as “the Great Emancipator,” but Lincoln was no abolitionist. His aim throughout his presidency was to keep the Union together, a task fraught with contradictions, as large swaths of the country embraced both the Union and slavery—for example, Missouri, Delaware, Maryland, and Kentucky. As Lincoln himself said famously in August 1862, “My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union.”
Lincoln’s stance on slavery as the war progressed was based on military rather than moral considerations.
And that’s the necessary context for students to approach the Emancipation Proclamation, which took effect 150 years ago, on January 1, 1863. Interestingly, despite the fact that the proclamation is mentioned in virtually every textbook, it is never printed in its entirety. Perhaps that’s because despite its lofty-sounding title, this is no stirring document of liberty and equality; in fact, it does not even criticize slavery. “Emancipation” is presented purely as a measure of military necessity. Lincoln offered freedom to enslaved people in those areas only “in rebellion against the United States.” It reads like a document written by a lawyer—one who happened to be a Commander in Chief—not an abolitionist. It even goes county by county listing areas where slavery would remain in force, “precisely as if this proclamation were not issued.” According to Eric Foner, the proclamation left more than 20 percent of enslaved people still in slavery—800,000 out of 3.9 million.
Guided Notes
Lincoln's First Inaugural Address
- In your own words, summarize what Lincoln is saying in these two excerpts from his first inaugural address. What is he promising?
- Which part or parts of the country do you think Lincoln is mainly speaking to in these excerpts?
- By the time Abraham Lincoln gave this inaugural address in March 1861, seven states had already seceded from the Union. Why do you think these Southern states did not accept his offer and return to the Union?
Original 13th Amendment
- Put the original 13th Amendment in your own words.
Emancipation Proclamation
- Select one quote from the text that you find interesting. What is it? Explain why you find it interesting.
A War to Free the Enslaved? | |
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Additional Readings and Videos
- Full Article - Rethinkin’ Lincoln on the 150th Birthday of the Emancipation Proclamation
- Article - The United States Is Being Taught by Facts and Events by David Blight
- Video - Eric Foner Thinks Anew About Lincoln and Slavery (12:08)
- Video - Black Americans in the Civil War: Crash Course Black American History #18 - Clint Smith