Hesitant Emancipator Analysis

Improved Essays
Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth president of the United States, is well-known for many extraordinary achievements. One of his most memorable accomplishments was the Emancipation Proclamation, that he passed on January 1, 1863. After passing this document, he gained favor from the Northern states, however, he obtained hatred from the Southern states. This division between the country had many negative consequences. In the two articles, “Hesitant Emancipator” by Brands and “The Slow End to Slavery” by Clancy, both explained some of the events that led up to Lincoln signing the Emancipation Proclamation. Abraham Lincoln is remembered as “The Great Emancipator,” however he does not deserve this honorary title since Lincoln’s only goal was to preserve the Union. Abraham Lincoln was given more glory for the Emancipation than what he actually deserved. In the article, “Hesitant Emancipator,” the author wrote, “he did not begin his presidency with the goal of freeing the slaves” (Brands). Lincoln did not initially think about freeing the slaves, he …show more content…
In the article, “The slow End of Slavery,” the author wrote, “...declaring freedom for most of the nation’s slaves--more than [three] million men, women, and children in [ten] states” (Clancy). The lives of these innocent people would not have been saved without the Emancipation. Even though that was not nearly close to the amount of the slaves that needed to be freed, it still had a major impact. “Despite its flaws, the declaration was crucial to slavery’s end: It launched the chain of events that led, however slowly, to freedom” (Clancy). The Emancipation Proclamation opened many people's eyes and allowed them to become aware of the major complication that was occurring. It sparked many minds and, also lead to Martin Luther King Jr's “I Have a Dream” speech, 100 years

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation was introduced, but it was not what it supposedly appeared to be. It was, in essence, a document that would lead us to the end of slavery. According to Lincoln, his proclamation was just a war measure, and it did not mean anything about ending slavery. The Emancipation Proclamation caused problems across our land. There were hard feelings, race riots, and even deaths.…

    • 921 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    On January 1, 1863, an important document was applied which freed all slaves in rebellious states or designated part of a state. This was the Emancipation Proclamation signed and established by President Abraham Lincoln. The Emancipation Proclamation read "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free.” Abraham Lincoln’s main focus in the creation of this document was to con the Confederate states to give up their fight against the Union and join the United States of America once again.…

    • 1418 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Abraham Lincoln, was the 16th president of the United States of America, he was born on February 12th, 1809 in Hardin County, Kentucky in a small log cabin. Lincoln had many accomplishments. One of these are keeping the Union alive throughout the Civil War and the better known accomplishment is the Emancipation Proclamation which he announced on January 1st, 1863, abolishing slavery. Lincoln at first didn’t abolish slavery because he necessarily hated it, he didn’t mind it at first because it was thought it could preserve the Union. Lincoln abolished it because it was tearing the country apart, and after the South surrendered he had decided that the South would no longer be allowed to have salves, in an effort to put the United States of America…

    • 237 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Civil War Dbq

    • 1384 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Abraham Lincoln, as we all know as our 16th president of the United States, Put the Emancipation Proclamation into action. This was an executive order issued by President Lincoln on January 1, 1863, this stated that slaves be free. I will be researching about what Abraham Lincoln did leading up to this event, the outcome, and the successful and unsuccessful…

    • 1384 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The contributions of President Lincoln towards the cause of liberty for the enslaved were momentous in the context of the time they were issued, as the size of effect of Lincoln's contributions were vast, reaching an unprecedented amount of people. At the peak of the antislavery sentiment in the North, along with a string of Union victories, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, that declared free all slaves in Confederate slaves. This extensive use of presidential war powers on the part of Lincoln was limited since the Proclamation did not apply to Union states with slavery or the border slave states, yet this executive order would end the injustices of a centuries old institution, liberating millions in turn. Lincoln had assumed leadership of a growing crusade of liberty, that sought emancipation as a worthy justification of the sacrifices on the part of the…

    • 779 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Emancipation Proclamation, issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, declared “that all persons held as slaves” within the rebel states “are, and henceforward shall be free.” This proclamation was an important step towards abolishing slavery and conferring American citizenship upon ex-slaves, although the proclamation did not actually outlaw slavery or free the slaves in the Union states that still permitted it (“The Immediate Effects”). The proclamation also broadened the goals of the Union war effort, because it made the abolition of slavery into an explicit Union goal, in addition to the reuniting of the country. As a matter of fact, not only did the Emancipation Proclamation proclaim the freedom of slaves in the ten Confederate states still in rebellion, but it also ordered that freed slaves could be enlisted in the Union Army, thereby increasing the Union’s…

    • 762 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, which declared all slaves free. Lincoln was under many pressures while issuing this document, including that the war was the bloodiest, or deadliest, war in our history at the time, so everyone wanted it to end. Also, Abraham Lincoln was the President at the time so everybody was relying on him to make the right decision. This put lots of pressure on LincolnThere is lots of controversy between whether Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation for military or moral reasons. I think he did it for both, but he mostly did it, in my opinion, for the military reason.…

    • 452 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Beginning in 1863 the Emancipation Proclamation became effective. It was a presidential proclamation issued under Abraham Lincoln that had the goal of “practically restoring the constitutional relation between the United States”. One of the main goals was the succession of the southern states back into the United States. Another was freeing the slaves. He mentioned how he would use all of his power as president to achieve these goals.…

    • 1102 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “That the President will free all the little slave children,” was the words written on a petition given to Abraham Lincoln in 1864 (Swanson 1). These few words and the 195 signatures that accompanied it were enough to touch the president’s heart (Emancipation Proclamation Little People 2). Although the Emancipation Proclamation, a document freeing about 3.1 million slaves in the United States, was issued a year earlier, there were still some people unhappy about it’s effects (Emancipation Proclamation 3). Many abolitionists complained that the Emancipation had not gone far enough (Stowell 9). Other people from the Confederacy hated the Proclamation causing their rebellion to be greater and the war to be worse (Stowell 9).…

    • 1003 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    When most people hear of the Emancipation Proclamation, they tend to believe that it was the document that freed the slaves; however, this document was merely a political ploy by Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln issued the document in late 1862, and it took effect on January 1, 1863. When many look at how and when this document was issued, they often neglect to analyze the document using an economic way of thinking. When evaluated this way, Lincoln’s motives and reasoning for the proclamation, the impacts that were made, and the legacy that Lincoln left stray from the common beliefs. Economics can be defined in many ways, but in this case, it is best defined as a study of how people respond to incentives.…

    • 928 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The Emancipation Proclamation established a revolution that changed the law and social status of the African American race. It helped the slaves on their long road to freedom, even though it took a while for African Americans to establish the freedom we have today. Abraham Lincoln won the presidency in 1860 without the support of any Southern states. While Lincoln was in office South Carolina broke off from the Union as well as six other states and four more threatened to leave. Eventually these eleven states became the confederacy.…

    • 2572 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The year 1862-1863 proved to be a major year for the history of United States of America. With the Emancipation Proclamation signed by Abraham Lincoln, the status of slavery within the country is hence abolished. Historians argue whether the abolition of slavery is a direct connection to what Lincoln did. Some argue that it was from the pressure of slaves themselves.…

    • 1071 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation as a way to cripple the confederacy, as it targets all the confederate states and helped in slavery in America. However, it was signed by Lincoln under presidential war powers. In the Proclamation, Lincoln said that, “as a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing said rebellion.," Lincoln shows that he is using his powers to end slavery in the rebelling states as a way to end the war. by taking away the power the southern state had., as well as gain over 100,00 African-American soldiers by the end of the war. With Lincoln creating the document, it shows how willing he is to end this war and preserve the Union of states.…

    • 184 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    For many today Lincoln is viewed as the man who freed the slaves, but to what extent does he deserve the title of The Great Emancipator? Lincoln understood that especially during the war period the the country was currently in he had to boost morale as well as weaken the opponent. After the battle of Antietam Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on the 1st of January 1863. Whether the reasons for issuing the Emancipation Proclamation were for his benefit or for the benefit of the slave population are questionable. Did acts such as this and others by Lincoln make him worthy the title of The Great Emancipator?…

    • 768 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Analytical Essay on the Emancipation Proclamation The United States of America has had an aggrieved history of slavery about African Americans. African Americans at this contemporary are descendants of Africans who were force from their homeland and brought here in the United States as slaves. During the United States slavery era, slaves were consider properties of their master. At the United States’ constitution convention, it was very much explicit and adhered to by the founding fathers by accounting 3/5 of black persons to be equivalent three persons, that which denigrated black people as human beings. The southern states of the United States were deeply interested in slavery because of their labor on the southern plantations.…

    • 1021 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays