Through relentless effort and well thought out political strategies, Abraham Lincoln drafted and issued the Emancipation Proclamation. Honorable as the notion of freedom for all may seem now and to certain groups at the time, the order was very controversial and vastly unwelcome. Slavery was a widespread disease killing the United States, dividing the country, and mutilating the freedom the United States was supposed to stand for. Slave states couldn’t see the hardship they were placing on America. Blinded by their greed and prejudice against African Americans, they seceded from the United States and formed the Confederacy. The Civil War was a direct result of this rebellion; Lincoln made it his mission as president to preserve the Nation,
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He wrote it for the entire nation to read, but the proclamation was especially directed to the states in rebellion, as the decree would directly affect them. Lincoln had scrupulously thought out his decision to write and put into effect emancipation of the slaves in any rebelling states. The proclamation not only freed the slaves, but also gave them the right to join the Union military. He knew that by doing so, two things would happen: the south’s economy would suffer, and the Union would enjoy an increase in their military troops. Under normal circumstances the order would have needed to go through Congress to be approved, but as the country was in the middle of a war, he held the authority as the Commander and Chief of the United States Military, giving him the right to implement it as a necessary war measure. He was advised to wait to issue the proclamation until the Union had won a battle, as to not look like a desperate ploy of a feeble enemy. Five days after the Union had won the battle of Antietam, the proclamation was announced. The preliminary draft was a forewarning to the rebellious states that they had 100 days to give up their defiant behavior and rejoin the Union or their “property”, slaves, would be set free. Not one slave state gave in during that time though. So, on January 1, 1863 the Emancipation Proclamation became official and all slaves in any state not loyal to the Union were, “Thenceforward, and forever free” (Lincoln, Emancipation
He wrote it for the entire nation to read, but the proclamation was especially directed to the states in rebellion, as the decree would directly affect them. Lincoln had scrupulously thought out his decision to write and put into effect emancipation of the slaves in any rebelling states. The proclamation not only freed the slaves, but also gave them the right to join the Union military. He knew that by doing so, two things would happen: the south’s economy would suffer, and the Union would enjoy an increase in their military troops. Under normal circumstances the order would have needed to go through Congress to be approved, but as the country was in the middle of a war, he held the authority as the Commander and Chief of the United States Military, giving him the right to implement it as a necessary war measure. He was advised to wait to issue the proclamation until the Union had won a battle, as to not look like a desperate ploy of a feeble enemy. Five days after the Union had won the battle of Antietam, the proclamation was announced. The preliminary draft was a forewarning to the rebellious states that they had 100 days to give up their defiant behavior and rejoin the Union or their “property”, slaves, would be set free. Not one slave state gave in during that time though. So, on January 1, 1863 the Emancipation Proclamation became official and all slaves in any state not loyal to the Union were, “Thenceforward, and forever free” (Lincoln, Emancipation