Download Lincoln`s Emancipation Policies

Lincoln’s EMANCIPATION POLICIES
On August 19, 1862, New York Tribune editor
Horace Greeley, a leading abolitionist, published “The
Prayer of Twenty Millions,” a public letter to
President Lincoln. The editor complained that the
populace of the loyal states (the “Twenty Millions”)
was “sorely disappointed and deeply pained by the
policy you [Lincoln] seem to be pursuing with regard
to the slaves of the Rebels.” In particular, Greeley
chastized the president for inadequate execution of the
Second Confiscation Act of July 17, 1862, which
freed all slaves coming under Union military
jurisdiction who were owned by rebel masters.
On August 22, the president responded to Greeley in a
public letter, which appeared in the September 6 issue
of Harper’s Weekly (published August 27). Lincoln
asserted that his goal was to save the Union,
disagreeing with those who placed either preserving
or abolishing slavery above it. “If I could save the
Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I
could save the Union 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.” He ended
by repeating his “oft-expressed personal wish that all
men every where could be free.”
In the same September 6, 1862 issue, Harper’s
Weekly published a cartoon by Henry Louis Stephens
spoofing Greeley’s “The Prayer of Twenty Millions”
letter. In the foreground, Greeley gestures grandly as
he dramatically dictates the correspondence to his
assistant. In the left background, a group of men sing,
“We Ain’t Coming, Father Abraham.” Their chorus
refers to President Lincoln’s request on July 1, 1862,
that loyal state governors recruit 300,000 volunteers
for the Union military. In order to support the
president’s plea for more troops, James Sloan Gibbons
wrote “We Are Coming, Father Abraham,” a patriotic
poem first published in the New York Evening Post on
July 16 and soon set to music. In the cartoon,
Greeley’s singers reject the call to arms. Inclusion of
a black man among them reflects the policy of the
Second Confiscation Act and Militia Act of 1862,
both of which authorized the president to use black
Americans in the Union military. The group on the
right includes a black boy, a Quaker (note the dark,
wide-brimmed hat), and an old man. In cartoons of
the day, an umbrella held by a man was often a
symbol of weakness or effeminacy.
Unknown to Greeley and other critics of the president,
Lincoln had informed his cabinet on July 22, 1862,
that he would issue an emancipation order based on
his authority as commander-in-chief. With the Union
military suffering setbacks in early 1862, Secretary of
State William Henry Seward feared that its prompt
announcement could be interpreted as an act of
desperation. Therefore, Seward convinced the
president to wait until after a major Union victory
before declaring the policy, so that it would be based
on a position of military strength. Accordingly, when
Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s invasion of the
North was repelled at the battle of Antietam on
September 17, Lincoln issued his Preliminary
Emancipation Proclamation five days later on
September 22, 1862.
Harper’s Weekly printed the document in its issue
dated October 4, 1862 (published September 24). The
Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation declared that
if the Confederacy did not cease its rebellion by the
first of the year, then all the slaves in Confederateheld territory would be freed. It excluded slaves in
the loyal Border States of Maryland, Delaware,
Kentucky, and Missouri, and in Southern areas
controlled by the Union military on that date
(Tennessee and parts of Louisiana and Virginia).
Therefore, it would affect only slaveowners in
disloyal areas. The policy was aimed at inducing the
Confederacy to surrender rather than lose its slaves,
and it was based on what Lincoln considered to be a
president’s war power: increased constitutional
authority as commander-in-chief during a national
emergency.
The Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation begins
with Lincoln’s promise to encourage Congress again
to allocate funds for states enacting compensated
emancipation plans (whether gradual or immediate)
and for the voluntary colonization abroad of all black
Americans (free blacks as well as freed slaves). The
document drew attention to a congressional act of
March 13, 1862, forbidding the return of fugitive
slaves by Union military personnel, and of sections 9
and 10 of the Second Confiscation Act of July 17,
1862, which freed all slaves coming into Union
military jurisdiction and also forbid their return to
slavery. By calling for the full enforcement of the
Second Confiscation Act, Lincoln authorized the use
of black troops in the Union military.
The next issue of Harper’s Weekly, dated October 11,
1862 (published October 1), ran a cartoon by Frank
Bellew about the Preliminary Emancipation
Proclamation, “Lincoln’s Last Warning.” In it, an axwielding Lincoln threatens to chop down the tree of
slavery unless Confederate President Jefferson Davis
agrees to come down from it.
In the annual presidential message to Congress of
December 1, 1862, a month before the Emancipation
Proclamation took effect, Lincoln proposed three
constitutional amendments related to slavery: 1)
federal compensation to states voluntarily abolishing
slavery by 1900; 2) federal compensation to slaveowners; and, 3) federal funds for the voluntary
colonization of American blacks abroad. The
proposals were largely ignored or criticized, and none
were introduced into Congress.
The lead editorial in the December 13, 1862 issue of
Harper’s Weekly (published December 3) commented
on the presidential message. In the “Emancipation”
section, the editorialist (probably managing editor
John Bonner) pointed out that the Border States
appeared no closer to adopting compensated
emancipation than they were eight months before
when Congress passed the president’s resolution
offering federal funds for the policy. The editorial
noted that Lincoln did not intend the proposed
amendments to undercut the authority of the soon-tobe promulgated Emancipation Proclamation. The
writer ended by again arguing that colonization was
impractical and, with sarcastic wit aimed at
colonization advocates, that most blacks do not want
to leave the United States because it was their native
land of which they were patriotically fond.
A cartoon in the December 20, 1862 issue of Harper’s
Weekly poked fun at Lincoln’s proposed constitutional
amendment for gradual emancipation by 1900. In it,
black Americans who had been preparing to celebrate
the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863,
react to a banner declaring that emancipation has been
postponed for 37 years.
As largely expected, none of the Confederate states
accepted Lincoln’s offer to put down their arms in
return for securing slavery within the Union.
Therefore, the president signed the Emancipation
Proclamation on January 1, 1863, and it was printed in
the Harper’s Weekly issue dated January 17
(published January 7). In it, Lincoln emphasized his
authority as commander-in-chief and that the
emancipation order was a “fit and necessary war
measure.” The loyal Border States—Delaware,
Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri—and the former
Confederate state of Tennessee (then under Union
control) did not fall under the jurisdiction of the
Emancipation Proclamation. He also excluded the
counties that would soon become the state of West
Virginia and, by name, certain other counties in
Virginia and Louisiana, then under Union control.
Because of the common fear in the South of race
warfare, Lincoln admonished the freed slaves not to
resort to violence. He then affirmed that former
slaves would be accepted into Union military service.
The lead editorial in the previous week’s Harper’s
Weekly, published on the eve of the proclamation
(December 31), emphasized the importance of the
presidential order to the recruitment of black troops.
The editorialist (probably John Bonner) judged that
the Emancipation Proclamation “merely affirms and
consolidates the policy which as hitherto been pursued
by individual commanders from military
considerations.” Nevertheless, the writer predicted,
“the number of runaways will increase as our armies
advance and the [naval] blockade is tightened,” some
perhaps emboldened by the Emancipation
Proclamation.
A double-page cartoon by Thomas Nast from the
January 24, 1863 issue of Harper’s Weekly celebrated
the Emancipation Proclamation. The centerpiece is a
reunited family of former slaves living in middle-class
comfort (note the portrait of Lincoln on the wall). On
the right, are depictions of other benefits of
emancipation, such as public education and paid
employment, which are contrasted on the left by the
heartless slave auctions, which divided families, and
the brutal punishment slaves suffered. In the small
circular in the center foreground, Father Time holds
the Baby New Year, who unshackles a black man.
The Emancipation Proclamation’s declaration of
freedom for slaves in Confederate-held territory and
its approval of using black men in the Union military
meant that to the original federal war aim of restoring
the Union was added the goal of liberating those still
held as slaves. As Union military forces advanced
across the South, thousands of slaves were freed. In
the February 21, 1863 issue of Harper’s Weekly, an
illustration by a Union soldier depicted slaves
crossing into freedom behind Federal lines in
Newbern, North Carolina. In his letter to the
newspaper, the soldier estimated that there were about
120 slaves in the group, and reported that they said, “it
was known far and wide that the President had
declared the slaves free.” A news column, “Domestic
Intelligence,” in the December 17, 1864 issue
included an item estimating the number of slaves
freed to that date by Union policies.
An important consequence of the Emancipation
Proclamation was the recruitment of black
servicemen. By the end of the war, almost 200,000
black men had served in the Union armed forces as
soldiers, sailors, or laborers. An illustration from the
March 14, 1863 issue of Harper’s Weekly showed
black troops engaged in battle at Island Mound,
Missouri.
Although criticized by some at the time and later for
its limited nature, the Emancipation Proclamation
quickly assumed the status of a revered symbol of
American liberty. An advertisement in the June 25,
1864 issue of Harper’s Weekly solicited for agents to
sell copies of it to the public.
Harper's Weekly References
1) August 19, 1862, New York Tribune, “Prayer of Twenty
Millions”
2) September 6, 1862, p. 563, c. 3-4
“Domestic Intelligence” column, “The President on the
Negro Question”
3) September 6, 1862, p. 576
cartoon, untitled, Greeley’s “The Prayer of Twenty
Millions,” Henry Louis Stephens
4) “We Are Coming, Father Abraham,” poem
5) October 4, 1862, p. 627, c. 2-3
“Domestic Intelligence” column, “The Abolition of Slavery”
6) October 11, 1862, p. 656
cartoon, “Lincoln’s Last Warning,” Frank Bellew
7) December 13, 1862, p. 786, c. 1-2
editorial, “The Message,” section 2, “Emancipation”
8) To the first paragraph of “Gradualism, Compensation,
and Colonization” section of the commentary
9) December 20, 1862, p. 816
cartoon, untitled, John McLenan
10) January 17, 1863, p. 34, c. 1
announcement, text of the Emancipation Proclamation
11) January 10, 1863, p. 18, c. 1-2
editorial, “Negro Emancipation”
12) January 24, 1863, pp. 56-67
cartoon, “Emancipation Proclamation,” Thomas Nast
13) February 21, 1863, p. 116
illustration, “The Effects of the Proclamation”
14) February 21, 1863, p. 119
article, “The Effects of the Proclamation”
15) December 17, 1864, p. 811, c. 3
“Interesting Items” column
16) March 14, 1863, pp. 168-169
illustration, “A Negro Regiment in Action”
17) June 25, 1864, p. 414, c. 2
advertisement, “Emancipation Proclamation