Emancipation
Proclamation
Anna Kenig-Ziesler, Paryssa Khazaie, John McKee, and
Emma Meyers
The Border States
 At the start of the
war, President
Lincoln was very
cautious as to what
he did. This is
because he wanted
to keep the Border
States (Missouri,
Kentucky, Maryland,
and Delaware) on
the side of the
Union.
The Border States
The Border States were threatening to secede,
and Lincoln knew that if they left the Union and
joined the Confederacy, the Union didn’t stand a
chance in the war.
The Border States were what gave the Union the
edge in population because the white population
of the Border States all together was
approximately half of all of the states of the
Confederacy.
The Border States
 There were many
rivers, such as
the Mississippi,
that the Union
could only access
through the
Border States.
This gave the
Union access to
rivers for
commerce and
transportation of
military supplies.
The Border States
Had Maryland seceded, the Capitol,
Washington D.C., would have been surrounded
by Confederate territory, and the Union would
probably have been forced to abandon it.
The Border States gave the Union army
250,000 soldiers, so had these men gone to
the Confederate army, the Union would have
almost certainly lost the war.
The Border States and
Emancipation
The Border States
were the only Union
states that still had
slaves.
Lincoln’s goal was to
end slavery in these
states by having those
states implement
emancipation gradually
using federal funding.
The Border States and
Emancipation
Lincoln wouldn’t claim emancipation as an aim
of the war before he knew that the Border
States were strongly on the side of the Union.
The reason for this is that it could cause the
Border States to secede.
After the Border States refused to go along
with his plan for voluntary emancipation
Lincoln decided to issue the Emancipation
Proclamation.
Lincoln and the
Constitution
 Article II, Section 2: “The
President shall be
Commander in Chief of
the Army and Navy of the
United States, and of the
Militia of the several
States, when called into
the actual Service of the
United States.”
 Lincoln interpreted this to
give him the war power to
free the slaves in the
Confederacy.
Lincoln and the
Constitution
Lincoln had to use his war powers to free the
slaves in the Confederacy because it was the
only way to do it legally (because of the
Constitution).
In times of peace, only Congress had the
power to free the slaves.
Lincoln could not free the slaves in the Border
States because those states were not in
rebellion.
Lincoln and the
Constitution
 By the Constitution,
Lincoln, the
commander in chief,
had the authority
during war to
confiscate and free
any property of the
people in rebellion.
 As the slaves were
considered
property, it allowed
Lincoln to take and
free the slaves.
Legal Buildup
The first step that Congress took against slavery
was when it passed the First Confiscation Act.
This allowed the Union army to take any
property (such as slaves) that had been used to
help the rebellion.
This law was not well enforced (Lincoln was not
convinced it was constitutional) and it was very
difficult to prove which slaves had had masters
that helped the rebellion.
Legal Buildup
 The next move against
slavery was when General
John C. Frémont declared
a law freeing the slaves of
rebels in the border state
of Missouri.
 Lincoln revoked this law,
worried that it might
make Kentucky secede
because they were
worried the same could
happen to them.
Legal Buildup
 In March 1862,
Congress yet again
made a move against
slavery. They passed a
law directly rebuffing
the Fugitive Slave Act.
 It prohibited the army
from returning fugitive
slaves who had crossed
the Union lines to their
masters.
Legal Buildup
In April, 1862 Congress passed a law for
compensated emancipation in Washington D.C.
This meant that the Capitol would get paid to
emancipate all of their slaves.
Then, in June, Congress endorsed a treaty with
Britain for a joint elimination of the African slave
trade. Also, Congress abolished slavery in the
Western territories.
Legal Buildup
In July, 1862, the Second Confiscation Act
was passed; it said that any slave belonging
to a treasonous person was deemed free.
Lincoln thought this was unconstitutional
because once the master had died the slave
should go back to the master’s family
according to Article III, Section 3 of the
Constitution.
Mounting Pressures
 After huge pressures on Lincoln, from abolitionists
in Congress, to implement emancipation, he finally
wrote the first draft in June, 1862.
 He had been holding back so that he could make
sure that the Border States would remain part of the
Union, but once he realized that he needed to
emancipate the slaves for military reasons, he finally
took action.
 Emancipation would give the Union army huge
numbers of black soldiers, giving it the manpower
needed to win the war.
Mounting Pressures
 After Lincoln wrote his first draft of the
Emancipation Proclamation, he initially shared it
with his cabinet.
 Over the summer, the pressure on Lincoln from
abolitionists escalated (for universal
emancipation), and there was even a huge rally in
Chicago on September 7. Lincoln also met with a
delegation of abolitionists on September 13.
However, Lincoln held out, and did not release his
proclamation of emancipation until September 22,
1862.
First Draft of the
Emancipation Proclamation
 Finally, in July 1862 Lincoln
wrote the first draft of the
Emancipation Proclamation.
 However, he delayed his
proclamation because they
had recently lost a battle,
and he did not want to make
it seem like he was releasing
it in desperation. Lincoln
decided to wait till after
their first victory to declare
his proclamation.
Battle of Antietam
 On September 17, 1862 Lincoln got the battle he
had been waiting for.
 The Battle of Antietam was the bloodiest battle
ever fought in the war and also the single
bloodiest day.
 The Union army was looking for a decisive win on
Northern soil.
 They did not get this decisive win, but they did
force the Confederate army to retreat, winning
the battle.
Battle of Antietam
 Five days
later, on
September
22, 1862
Lincoln
released the
Emancipation
Proclamation.
Changes Made
Between Lincoln’s initial first draft of the
proclamation and his final proclamation he
made a few changes.
The most important one was that he added
that the newly emancipated slaves would be
allowed to enlist in the Union army.
Goals of the Emancipation
Proclamation
 Lincoln’s immediate
goal was to use the
Emancipation
Proclamation to win
the war because it
would give the Union
army a huge boost in
manpower.
 Lincoln believed that
the Emancipation
Proclamation would set
the Union on the right
road to achieve
universal
emancipation.
Effects of the Emancipation
Proclamation
 The Emancipation Proclamation changed what the war was
being fought over. The war changed from a war over power
to a moral fight.
 Even though the Emancipation Proclamation did not legally
free slaves in the Border States, slavery essentially
crumbled everywhere because slaves left to join the Union
army.
 Maryland and Missouri ended slavery towards the end of
the war.
 The Thirteenth Amendment was passed emancipating all
slaves everywhere after the war ended in 1865.