Abraham Lincoln The Great Emancipator Analysis

The common conception of President Abraham Lincoln painted the picture of a goodhearted, moral, man who wanted nothing except for the abolition of slavery. This perception, however, was completely inaccurate. Calling Lincoln the Great Emancipator instigates the idea that Lincoln was a wholehearted abolitionist; when in reality, he had no original desire to emancipate slavery. Lincoln earned this nickname through the passage of both the Confiscation Act and the Emancipation Proclamation. The two major acts were only created and passed due to a state of emergency within the United States. During his presidential campaign, he made no mention of the abolition of slavery nor did he actually free a single slave in the South. The idea of Lincoln being the Great Emancipator connotes that he also believed in total equality for blacks and whites. Contrary to this perception, Lincoln did not want free blacks to be equal to whites in any way except for the fact that neither group was in bondage. The Confiscation Act explicitly referred to slaves as Confederate property, demonstrating that Lincoln did not view them as equal human beings or as anything other than a tool …show more content…
However, the Emancipation Proclamation was a mere facade to pacify Northern abolitionists, who were the major support behind Union forces. With the South in rebellion, Lincoln’s executive order was not enforced and was therefore ineffective. While the intention of the act was to free slaves in Confederate states, it did not accomplish this task even once. Furthermore, the Emancipation Proclamation only applied to states within the Confederacy; therefore, slave states, which remained loyal to the Union, had no obligation to free their slaves. Lincoln cannot truly be called the Great Emancipator if he complacently allowed slavery to exist within the