Download A New Birth of Freedom: The Civil War, 1861-1865

A New Birth of Freedom:
The Civil War, 1861-1865
14.2 The Coming of Emancipation
Slavery and the War
• Wars cause revolutions
– Slavery central part of Southern society
– War will destroy it
• Lincoln promotes Northern values
– Preserving democracy & free labor
• Lincoln ignores slavery in 1st year
– Keep border states (2.6M W, 500K slaves)
– Northern conservatives
• Crittenden Resolution 1861
– Union has no intention of interfering with
slavery
Slavery Unraveling
• Ignoring it ends by end of 1861
• Military treats slaves as contraband of war
– Property of military value, subject to
confiscation
• To Blacks it’s a “freedom war”
• Antislavery northerners insist
emancipation necessary to weaken
South’s ability to sustain war
Steps Toward Emancipation
• Aug. 61 Gen. Fremont frees slaves in MO
• March 62 congress prohibits army from returning
slaves & abolition in DC
• 2nd Confiscation Act – freed slaves in Union
occupied terr. & escaped to Union lines
• Lincoln tries to get control 61-62
– Rescinds Fremont’s order
– Gradual emancipation & colonization for border
slaves
Lincoln’s Decision
• Understands emancipation a political &
military necessity.
• Sec. State W. Seward wait until a victory
• 9/22/62 5 days after Antietam
– Preliminary EP
– Warned if South didn’t lay down arms by end
of 1862 he would decree abolition.
North Reacts
• Bad
• Dems gain seats in Fall elections
• Rep. lose IN & IL govt’s, & lose Gov of NY
The Emancipation Proclamation
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Jan. 1, 1863
Slaves in Confederate held terr. are free
Excluded border states
Jubilation
– Free blacks & abolitionists (North)
– “contrabands” & slaves (South)
• Altered nature of the CW & US history
Lincoln’s Change
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No compensation or colonization
Enlist black troops
“The Great Emancipator”
No longer just about preserving the Union
Now about the transformation of the
Southern way of life and redefining
American freedom
• Freed slaves would become part of
America
Enlisting Black Troops
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Radical provision in the EP
180,000 served in army
24,000 navy
Most were emancipated slaves from South
The Black Soldier
• Service was a liberating experience
– 130 will serve in office after war
• Didn’t receive equal treatment are pay
• Crucial role in winning war and defining
war’s consequences
54th Massachusetts
• July 18th 1863 attack
Fort Wagner SC
• Col. Robert Shaw“Negro troops”
• Shaw & half of the
600 men killed.
• Aug. 10th Frederick
Douglass tells Lincoln
Negro & white troops
should be equal.