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Download Free at Last: The Causes and Effects of the Emancipation
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1 Free at Last: The Causes and Effects of the Emancipation Proclamation Eric Stiltner Junior Division Historical Paper 2 The Emancipation Proclamation was a turning point in the fight against slavery. The Proclamation weakened the South by encouraging slaves to run away. It also ensured that foreign countries would not help the Confederate States of America. The Emancipation Proclamation paved the way for black troops to fight for the Union Army. Finally, the Emancipation Proclamation led to the 13th Amendment which ended the brutal practice of legal slavery everywhere in the United States of America. Slavery started in America when southern planters didn’t have enough people to work on farms and plantations. First, colonists turned to indentured servants. Indentured servants were colonists who received free passage to North America in exchange for working without pay for a certain number of years.1 Indentured servants were treated horribly. They were beaten, whipped, and even killed. Richard Frethorne, an indentured servant in Virginia wrote, “There is indeed some fowl, but we are not allowed to go and get it, but must work hard both early and late for a mess of water gruel and a mouthful of bread and beef. A mouthful of bread for a penny loaf must serve for four men which is most pitiful.”2 Eventually, indentured servants started running away and could not be found easily because they were white and blended in with everyone else. Native Americans were also used as slaves, especially by the Spanish. The colonists literally worked the natives to death. Enslaved Native Americans did not live long due to the labor and diseases such as malaria and plague that the colonists brought 1 Deverell, William and Deborah Gray White. United States History beginnings to 1877. Austin, Texas: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2008. Print: pg. 74 2 Frethorne, Richard. “letter to his father and mother, March 20, April 2 & 3, 1623.” The Records of the Virginia Company of London. Susan Kingsbury. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1935. 58–62. Web. http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6475 3 with them from the Old World.3 Colonists began importing Africans as indentured servants, but over time they shifted to being permanently enslaved peoples.4 African slaves were immune to the diseases that killed Native Americans. Therefore, African slaves were considered better workers by the colonists. Both white and Africans participated in and profited from the slave trade.5 The journey to America for enslaved Africans was called the Middle Passage.6 The Middle Passage was a brutal experience for slaves. Olaudah Equiano said, “On my refusing to eat, one of them held me fast by the hands, and laid me across I think the windlass, and tied my feet, while the other flogged me severely. I had never experienced anything of this kind before…”7Africans were stored in the lower deck of the ships while going to America. The slaves were chained together, and it was very crowded. It smelled like rotten bodies; vomit and urine were everywhere. Between 1800 and 1860, the U.S grew due to the Louisiana Purchase, Texas Annexation and Mexican War. As new states and territories were added, politicians debated whether the territories should be slave or free.8 Politicians tried to keep the number of free states and slave states the same in order to maintain the balance of power in Congress.9 The Missouri Compromise of 1820 said Maine could enter the Union as a free state and Missouri as a slave state. This compromise kept the balance even between free and slave states. The compromise 3 William Deverell , Deborah White: pg. 58-59 William Deverell , Deborah White: pg. 74 5 Byrd, Rebecca. “ Slavery in colonial America.” New Center School, Sevierville, TN. September 13, 2012. Lecture. 6 William Deverell , Deborah White: pg. 59 7 Equiano, Olaudah. The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, the Africa. Voelker, David. Historytools. 27 June 2007. Web. January 14, 2013. http://www.historytools.org/sources/equiano.pdf 8 Mattern , Joanne. The Big Book of the Civil War. Philadelphia, PA: Running Press. Print: pg. 6 9 Mattern , Joanne: pg. 6 4 4 also stated that any state north of the Missouri’s southern border would be a free state.10 The Compromise of 1850 allowed California to enter the Union as a free state. The rest of the Mexican Cession was divided into two territories, Utah and New Mexico. It also created a stronger Fugitive Slave Law.11 The arguments about slavery intensified when Congress passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854. Senator Stephen A. Douglas introduced the idea of popular sovereignty, or letting the people of a territory decide the question of slavery by a vote. This led to violence in “Bleeding Kansas,” as it came to be known. At the same time, the Abolition movement was growing. Abolition means a complete end to slavery.12 Some of the key leaders of the Abolition Movement were Fredrick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison and Sojourner Truth. Fredrick Douglass was an author, abolitionist, publisher, and journalist. After running away from slavery, Douglass dedicated his life to achieving justice for all Americans who did not have their rights. Lincoln referred to Douglass as “the most meritorious man of the nineteenth century.”13 Douglass pushed Lincoln to allow black soldiers to serve in the Civil War.14Another leader of the abolition movement was William Lloyd Garrison. Garrison published his own anti-slavery newspaper, The Liberator. This was read by thousands that opposed slavery, and they took action. Sojourner Truth was not only a member in the abolitionist movement, but she was also a women's rights advocate. Born 10 Mattern , Joanne: pg. 6 William Deverell , Deborah White: pg. 479 12 William Deverell , Deborah White: pg. 454 13 College of Education at the University of Houston. Digital History.2012. Web. December 17, 2012. http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/exhibits/douglass_exhibit/douglass.html. 14 College of Education at the University of Houston. Digital History.2012. Web. December 17, 2012. http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/exhibits/douglass_exhibit/douglass.html. 11 5 Isabella Baumfree, she changed her name to Sojourner Truth to show her dedication to the cause of freedom.15 The Underground Railroad held a key role in slavery, as well. The railroad was operated by people who opposed slavery. They helped runaway slaves reach northern states and Canada where they would be safe. Hundreds of slaves used the Underground Railroad between 1830 and during the outbreak of the Civil War. One conductor on the Underground Railroad was Harriet Tubman. Harriet Tubman helped more than three hundred slaves run away to freedom.16 In March of 1857, the case of Dred Scott reached the Supreme Court. Scott argued that because he had lived in the free state of Illinois, he should be free. The Court ruled that slaves were not citizens and that living in free territory did not make a slave free. Most importantly, the Court said that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional. This opened all the western territories to slavery. When Abraham Lincoln was nominated for president in 1860, the South feared that he would try to end slavery. This led the southern states to secede starting with South Carolina in 1860. Jefferson Davis was chosen as president of the Confederate States of America.17 The Civil War began on April 12th, 1861 18with the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter. After that attack, Lincoln issued a call for troops. The war had the highest casualty count of any 15 Sojourner Truth. Library of Congress, December 9th, 1998. Web. December 17, 2012. http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/odyssey/educate/truth.html 16 Judy Monroe. The Underground Railroad. Mankato, Minnesota: Capstone Press, 2003. Book 17 Dr. Donald J. Stoker. Essential Civil War Curriculum Civil War Strategy 1861-1865. March 2011.Web. November 15, 2012. http://www.essential.civilwar.vt.edu/assets/files/ECWC%20TOPIC%20Civil%20War%20Strategy%20Essay.pdf 6 American War. The South wanted to maintain slavery. The North wanted to restore the Union. They also saw the South as a threat after Fort Sumter. The Emancipation Proclamation changed the focus of the war to ending slavery. The first major battle of the Civil War was Bull Run. Bull Run took place on July 21, 1861.19 Actually, many northerners thought it would be the only battle of the Civil War.20 Northerners thought that the North would overwhelm the South and that the war was going to end right there. That was not the case. The South overpowered the Union, resulting in the Union running away. The Union army was led by Brigadier General Irvin McDowell. The South was led by General P.G.T. Beauregard.21 One year later, on August 28–30, 1862, the North and South met at Bull Run again. General John Pope led the Union, and Robert E. Lee led the Confederates. Pope was no match for Lee. Once again, the South won the battle.22 Lee decided to march into northern territory. Lee split his army to attack Harpers Ferry. As his half went to Maryland, the other half went to Harpers Ferry. The Confederate army easily took over the town of Harpers Ferry.23 Lee went to Maryland and issued a proclamation to try to get the people of Maryland to join the Confederate army. The proclamation failed. It wasn’t enough to convince the people of Maryland to join. As Lee was issuing the proclamation, McClellan learned that Lee had divided his army to attack Harpers Ferry. McClellan hesitated to 18 William Deverell , Deborah White: pg. 511 Mattern , Joanne: pg. 34 20 Mattern , Joanne: pg. 34 21 Mattern , Joanne: pg. 34 22 Mattern , Joanne: pg. 35 23 Deverell and White: pg.519 19 7 attack. If he had attacked, the war could have ended then. Instead, a battle took place at Sharpsburg, Maryland at Antietam Creek.24 The battle of Antietam, or Sharpsburg, was divided into three parts. Fighting occurred in the cornfield, the sunken road, and at the bridge. The battle started on September 17, 1862. Antietam was the most devastating battle of the Civil War.25 The number of soldiers wounded or killed was greater than the number of Americans who died in the American Revolution, War of 1812, and the Mexican American War combined.26 There were twelve thousand Union casualties and thirteen thousand casualties for the Confederates. Union officer A. H. Nickerson later said, “It seemed everybody near me was dead.”27 The United States claimed the victory because they stopped Robert E. Lee’s advance through the northern states. If the Union hadn’t stopped the advance, then the United States of America might still have been a slave country. The Battle of Antietam gave Lincoln the “victory” he needed to announce the Emancipation Proclamation. The Emancipation Proclamation said, “… 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.”28 The Proclamation took effect on January 1st, 1863. Lincoln said, "I never in my life felt more certain that I was doing right, than I 24 Stephen Sears. McClellan at Antietam. 2011. Web. November 26, 2012. http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/antietam/history/mcclellan-at-antietam.html 25 The History Rat: Investigating the Present and the Past. September 16, 2012. Web. 25 Oct. 2012. http://historyrat.wordpress.com/tag/battle-of-antietam/ 26 Deverell and White: pg.519 27 Deverell and White: pg.519 28 Abraham Lincoln. University of Delaware. Web. February 11, 2013. http://sites.udel.edu/emancipationsemester/what-is-the-emancipation-proclamation/ 8 do in signing this paper.”29 The problem was that the proclamation had no actual power in the southern states since Lincoln couldn’t enforce it in Confederate areas. The proclamation also did not apply in Union slave states like Maryland, Kentucky, Missouri, and most of Tennessee. However, when word of the Emancipation got to the slaves, they started to run away and became refugees in the northern states and Union Army camps.30 The Emancipation Proclamation also said to foreign countries that the Union was turning away from slavery. It said the people of United States dedicated themselves to ending slavery. This was important because there were some foreign countries that had become free and disagreed with the idea of slavery. One of the main countries was Great Britain. Great Britain considered supporting the Confederates because the South supplied cotton that Britain needed. The Emancipation Proclamation stopped Britain from allying with the Confederate States of America. If Britain had sided with the Confederate States of America, it would have changed the results of the war. The United States defeated Britain in the American Revolution and the War of 1812, but could not have done so without the southern states. They could not take on Great Britain and the southern states at the same time. Therefore, the Emancipation Proclamation kept British citizens from wanting to help the Confederate States of America. The British 29 Lincoln, Abraham. Quoted in Frederick Seward. Reminiscences of a War-time Statesman and Diplomat. Mr. Lincoln and Freedom. 2002. Web. February 11, 2013. http://www.mrlincolnandfreedom.org/inside.asp?ID=47&subjectID=3 30 The Emancipation Proclamation. US National Archives & Record Administration. Web. November 26, 2012. http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured_documents/emancipation_proclamation/ 9 government couldn’t support the South due to the large percentage of the population that did not want the country to help the South. Another way the Emancipation Proclamation helped the Union was the enlistment of African American troops into the Union army. Frederick Douglass said, “Once let the black man get upon his person the brass letters, U.S.; … and a musket on his shoulder and bullets in his pocket, and there is no power on Earth which can deny that he has earned the right to citizenship.”31 About 180,000 African Americans served in the Union army by the end of the war. In the 1864 election, Lincoln rewarded black soldiers with the right to vote. The Emancipation Proclamation was a major reason as to why the Union won the war, which led to the Thirteenth Amendment. The Proclamation encouraged many black soldiers to fight for the Union. The Thirteenth Amendment said that slavery was abolished from the United States of America. The Fourteenth Amendment guaranteed African Americans equal rights and protection under the law. Finally, the Fifteenth Amendment gave African American men the right to vote.32 However, the end of slavery did not end discrimination against African Americans. The Ku Klux Klan, or KKK, developed to intimidate African Americans to keep them from exercising their rights after the Civil War. The KKK used violence to threaten and control African Americans.33 Southern states passed poll tax laws that required citizens to pay a tax to vote. Since most African Americans could not afford the tax, it denied them their right to vote. The 31 The United States Colored Troops and the Defences of Washington. December 27, 2012. Web. February 11, 2013. http://www.nps.gov/cwdw/historyculture/the-united-states-colored-troops-and-the-defenses-of-washington.htm 32 Deverell and White: pg208- 209 33 Deverell and White: pg.556 10 southern states also developed Jim Crow laws to enforce segregation.34 The 1896, the Supreme Court case of Plessy v. Ferguson established the legal rule of separate but equal.35 In the 1950’s, African Americans began to fight for equal rights. In 1954, the Supreme Court unanimously voted in the case of Brown v. Board of Education that public school segregation created inequality, thus overturning separate but equal.36 In 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat in the front of the bus. This led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott which opposed segregation.37 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led many protests including the historic March on Washington on August 28th, 1963. On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, he delivered the iconic “I Have a Dream” speech. In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act which ended all legal segregation in the United States. Over the next decades, African-Americans continued to strive towards equality. This concluded with the election of Barak Obama, the nation’s first African-American president in 2008. Without Lincoln’s brave decision to sign the Emancipation Proclamation, none of these changes would be possible. 34 Deverell and White: pg.568 Deverell and White: pg.R39 36 Deverell and White: pg.R41 37 th “The Story Behind The Bus.” Henry Ford Museum. Thehenryford.org. February 7 , 2013. Web. <www.thehenryford.org/exhibits/rosaparks/story.asp> 35 11 Annotated Bibliographies Primary Source College of Education at the University of Houston. Digital History.2012. Web. December 17, 2012. http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/exhibits/douglass_exhibit/douglass.html. This secondary source website gave me a primary source quote from Fredrick Douglass. Douglass, Fredrick. The United States Colored Troops and the Defences of Washington. December 27, 2012. Web. February 11, 2013. http://www.nps.gov/cwdw/historyculture/theunited-states-colored-troops-and-the-defenses-of-washington.htm I got an important quote from Fredrick Douglass from this primary source site. It told me what the quote meant also. Frethorne, Richard. “letter to his father and mother, March 20, April 2 & 3, 1623.” The Records of the Virginia Company of London. Susan Kingsbury. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1935. 58–62. Web. http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6475 This primary source letter from Richard Frethorne helped me understand how horrible life was for indentured servents in early colonial times. Lincoln, Abraham. The Emancipation Proclamation. US National Archives & Record Administration. Web. November 26, 2012. http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured_documents/emancipation_proclamation/ This primary source document written by Abraham Lincoln said that all slaves in Confederate states were free. I go a quote out of this document. 12 Lincoln, Abraham. Quoted in Frederick Seward. Reminiscences of a War-time Statesman and Diplomat. Mr. Lincoln and Freedom. 2002. Web. February 11, 2013. http://www.mrlincolnandfreedom.org/inside.asp?ID=47&subjectID=3 I found a good primary source quote here from Lincoln in which he expressed about signing a piece of paper. "I never in my life felt more certain that I was doing right, than I do in signing this paper,” Referring to the Emancipation Proclamation. Secondary Source Byrd, Rebecca. “ Slavery in Colonial America.” New Center School, Sevierville, TN. September 13, 2012. Lecture. This secondary source lecture from Rebecca Byrd helped me understand how whites, as well as blacks, profited from the slave trade. College of Education at the University of Houston. Digital History.2012. Web. December 17, 2012. http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/exhibits/douglass_exhibit/douglass.html. This secondary source helped me determine that Fredrick Douglass was a key man in the Abolition Movement because he was the “father of the civil rights movement.” Deverell, William and Deborah Gray White. United States History beginnings to 1877. Austin, Texas: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2008. Print. This is a secondary source textbook that helped me learn about how Africans were treated. It also taught me about the Jim Crow Laws, Poll taxes, and Civil Rights movement. Dr. Donald J. Stoker. Essential Civil War Curriculum Civil War Strategy 1861-1865. March 2011.Web. November 15, 2012. http://www.essential.civilwar.vt.edu/assets/files/ECWC%20TOPIC%20Civil%20War%20Strategy %20Essay.pdf This is a secondary source that helped me understand the strategies and goals of the Civil War. I also learned that these strategies are what helped the North win the war and make the South lose. It also helped me learn that the South seceded from the North because Lincoln was elected. 13 Dred Scott case: the Supreme Court decision. East Tennessee PBS. Web. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4h2933.html This secondary source helped me understand that when the Dred Scott Case went to the Supreme Court and addressed the idea that Dred Scott living in a free state made him a free man. It also helped me understand that the Supreme Court ruled he was not a free man; this made the Missouri Compromise invalid. “History 110 The Civil War: Goals, Strategies, and Consequences”. Humboldt.edu. Humboldt State University. Web. November 19, 2012. http://users.humboldt.edu/ogayle/hist110/unit4/CivilWar.html This secondary source helped me understand that the South seceded because they thought that Lincoln was going to ban slavery. It also made me aware that the Union’s goal was to get the South back in the Union, and the South’s goal was to be independent and keep slavery. Judy Monroe. The Underground Railroad. Mankato, Minnesota: Capstone Press, 2003. Print. This secondary source helped me learn about the time period of the Underground Railroad. It also helped me learn about Harriet Tubman and how she was important in the Underground Railroad. Mattern, Joanne. The Big Book of the Civil War. Philadelphia, PA: Running Press. Print. This secondary source book helped me learn about how the slave states and free states were kept balanced. This book also helped me learn about multiple different subjects like the first and second battle of Bull Run. People & Events William Lloyd Garrison 1805 – 1876. East Tennessee PBS. Web. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p1561.html This secondary source had fantastic information that helped me determine why William Lloyd Garrison was a key member in the abolition movement to end slavery. It also told me that his newspaper inspired people to move against slavery. Sojourner Truth. Library of Congress, December 9th, 1998. Web. December 17, 2012. http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/odyssey/educate/truth.html 14 This secondary source website about Sojourner Truth told me how she was a member of the Abolition Movement and a women’s rights advocate. It told me that she was a key member in both of these. Stephen Sears. McClellan at Antietam. 2011. Web. November 26, 2012. http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/antietam/history/mcclellan-at-antietam.html This secondary source website taught me about McClellan and how he hesitated to attack Lee, which resulted in his being removed from command by Lincoln. The Emancipation Proclamation. US National Archives & Record Administration. Web. November 26, 2012. http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured_documents/emancipation_proclamation/ This secondary source website helped me learn about the events leading up to the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation and the role it played in the world today. The History Rat: Investigating the Present and the Past. September 16, 2012. Web. 25 Oct. 2012. http://historyrat.wordpress.com/tag/battle-of-antietam/ This secondary source website told me that the Battle of Antietam was the most devastating battle in U.S history. It also told me how McClellan hesitated to attack in Sharpsburg. The Mariners’ Museum. Anaconda Plan. The Mariners’ Museum. Web. November 19, 2012. http://www.marinersmuseum.org/uss-monitor-center/anaconda-plan This secondary source website helped me learn about Scotts Great Snake, or the Anaconda Plan.