US History
Fort Burrows
Chapter 17.3 -- A Promise of Freedom
READ Pgs 496 – 499
Main Idea:
By issuing the Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln expanded the goals of the
war to include the ending of slavery.
Vocabulary:
emancipate – to set free
Emancipation Proclamation – President Lincoln’s 1863 declaration freeing
slaves in the Confederacy
54TH Massachusetts Regiment – African American unit in the Union Army
Fort Wagner – South Carolina fort, the site of an attack by the African
American 54th Massachusetts Regiment in 1863
Setting the Scene:
John Finnely heard the news first thing in the morning: Ten slaves had run off the
night before. Finnely, a twelve-year-old slave on a plantation in Alabama, had a pretty
good idea were the escapees had gone. Most certainly, they had headed for Union
troops camped a few miles to the north—and freedom. Finney, too, began to “think
and think about gittin’ freedom.” At last, with mixture of hope and fear, he decided to
make the break:
John Finnely, 86, was born a slave to Mr. Martin Finnely, who owned John's parents
with about 75 other slaves and a large plantation located in Jackson Co., AL. Mr.
Finnely being a hard taskmaster, had 10 of his slaves escape. Their success caused
John Finnely to attempt escape and he also was successful. He joined the Federal
Army and met all the other runaways in the service. He was commended by Vice Pres.
Andrew Johnson, who later became President after President Lincoln's demise. At the
war's termination, John engaged in farming. He later came to Texas and farmed until
he went to work in the Fort Worth packing plants in 1917. Old age caused his death in
1930. He married in 1875 and reared 11 children. His wife died July 10, 1936. He lived
at 2812 Cliff Street, Fort Worth, Texas, and his sole support was a $17.00, monthly
pension received from the State of Texas.
At first, the Civil War was not a war against slavery. But as thousands of slaves like
John Finnely rushed into the arms of Union troops with the hope of freedom, some
northerners began to rethink the aims of the war.
Lincoln’s Goal
 The Civil War began –– to restore the Union, not to end slavery
 Lincoln tried to make this clear in a letter he wrote,
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Fort Burrows
“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 do it by freeing
some and leaving the others alone, I would also do that.”
Abraham Lincoln, August 22, 1862 quoted in Carl Sandburg, Abraham Lincoln
Carl Sandburg (1878 – 1967)
was an American writer and editor, best known for his poetry. He won two Pulitzer
Prizes, one for his poetry and another for a biography of Abraham Lincoln.
 Lincoln’s reason for handling the slavery issue so cautiously; 4 slave states
remained in the Union
 He was careful not to cause these states to shift their loyalty to the Confederacy
 Resources of the 4 border states might allow the South to turn the tide of the war
The Emancipation Proclamation
 Mid–1862, Lincoln believed he could save the Union only by broadening the goals
of the war
 He decided to emancipate enslaved African Americans living in the Confederacy
 Two parts to his decision:
 1st part – in the four loyal slave states, slaves would not be freed
 2nd part–slaves would not be freed in Confederate lands already occupied by the
Union, like the city of New Orleans
 This was meant to punish the rebel states
 Motives and Timing
 Lincoln had practical reasons for his emancipation plan
 3 million working slaves in the Confederacy
 The slaves helped grow the food that fed the Confederate soldiers
 They also worked in the iron and lead mines; guns and bullets
 Also served as nurses and cooks for the Army
 The emancipation would weaken the Confederacy’s ability to carry on war
 Lincoln had to be careful not to anger slave owners in the Union; many
northerners opposed freedom of slaves, they also used slaves for laborers
 Lincoln would introduce the emancipation slowly, limiting the plan only to
territory controlled by the Confederacy
 Lincoln believed slavery was wrong
 When he could free slaves without threatening the Union, he would do so
 The war was not going well for the Union; he wanted the support of the
American citizens, so he waited for a victory to make the announcement
 The victory came at Antietam; Lincoln issued a preliminary proclamation
 The formal Emancipation Proclamation came January 1, 1863
¿¿ Why did Lincoln issue the Emancipation Proclamation ?
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 Impact of the Proclamation
 Rebel states were not under Union control; no slaves actually gained
freedom January of 1863
 Emancipation Proclamation changed the purpose of the war
 Save the Union and NOW end slavery
 The proclamation was greeted with JOY! by opponents of slavery
 In Boston, abolitionist Frederick Douglass witnessed an emotional
celebration
“The effect of this announcement was startling… and the scene was wild and
grand… My old friend Rue, a negro preacher, expressed the heartfelt emotion
of the hour, when he led all voices in the anthem, ‘Sound the loud timbrel o’er
Egypt’s dark sea, Jehovah hath triumphed, his people are free!”
Fredrick Douglass, Life and Times of Frederick Douglass
 The South saw the proclamation as a “fiend’s act”
 Europeans, especially the working class, supported the proclamation
 The South would most likely NOT receive any aid from Britain or other
European countries
*** this was a huge blow to the original plans of the Confederacy, they were
anticipating aid and recognition
African American Contributions
 At the beginning of the Civil War, thousands of free-blacks volunteered to fight
for the Union
 1862, Congress repealed a law that forbade African Americans to serve as soldiers
 Free-blacks and escaped slaves enlisted in the Union Army; this dramatically
increased the size of the Union Army
 In the Union Army
 African Americans were assigned to all black units, commanded by white
officers
 They served as laborers; built roads and guarded supplies
 Black troops received ½ the pay of the white soldiers
 African American soldiers protested this policy
 By 1863, African American troops were fighting in major battles against the
Confederates
 By 1864, they began receiving equal pay; this was the 1st government action
to prove black and white equality
 200,000 African Americans fought for the Union; 40,000 lost their lives
 Act of Bravery
 The most famous African American Union unit was the 54th Massachusetts
Regiment
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 Frederick Douglass was a recruiter for this unit and two of his sons fought
with this group of black soldiers
 The courage of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment helped win respect for the
African American soldier
 Sergeant William Carney, of the 54th, was the 1st of 16 African American
soldiers to receive the ‘Medal of Honor’
 Secretary of War Edwin Stanton told President Lincoln, these men had
“proved themselves among the bravest of the brave”
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Behind Confederate Lines
African American slaves in the South also helped the Union
They slowed down their work, some refused to work at all
This act weakened the South’s war effort
*** How did this act really weaken the Confederate Army ?
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 When Union troops were victorious, the slaves in that area would be free;
this created HOPE!
 Whenever a Union Army appeared, slaves would flee the plantations and the
‘former’ masters
 By the end of the Civil War, one out of four, 1/4 , of the enslaved population
had escaped to freedom
¿¿ How did African Americans contribute to the Union effort ?
In the North - _________________________________________________________________________
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In the South - _________________________________________________________________________
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1.
What was Lincoln’s primary goals (4) during the war ?
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2.
What were the effects of the Emancipation Proclamation ?
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