Civil War Emancipation Research Paper

Emancipation is the essential freedom from slavery, and was the crucial process for American Americans to abandon their metaphorical, and, in some instances, physical chains which bound them to a lifetime of servitude and injustice in the American South. Although often viewed as a single and solitary act simply ordered on federal terms, emancipation as a whole was a collective entity of efforts by many during the period of the beginning of the American Civil War, 1861 to the beginning of Reconstruction, 1865. The beginning of the American Civil War, according to President Abraham Lincoln, was not centered around the idea of slavery and henceforth its emancipation. However, the Confederacy proved powerful because of the resources and labor due to slavery available to them, and the Union recognized this source of power as a potential threat. Despite efforts to center the war in terms of preservation, it becomes clear to the nation as a whole that slavery must become the central issue in order to covet a Union victory. The idea of Emancipation, or, at least the eventual release of slaves from bondage, was first introduced by Lincoln, who quickly became a key player for emancipation in terms of his power and voice for the nation, as he rejected the Crittenden Compromise of 1860, shortly before the Civil …show more content…
The Emancipation Proclamation, which thus was put into effect, essentially freed no slaves itself as written order, but served as a basis that Union victory ensured freedom. The Proclamation also gave Lincoln a large role in the freedom of African Americans; he exclusively had the Federal power to give such basis for the Union, while other key players had the power to enact and preserve such