Summary: The Great Emancipator

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? The issued Emancipation Proclamation freed roughly three fourths of the nation’s slave population. This did only target the slaves in the Confederacy, but was a necessary step in the road to abolition. Lincoln had always had an anti-slavery viewpoint as he said in a letter to Henry L. Pierce “This is a world of compensations; and he who would be no slave, must consent to have no slave.” It is argued that Lincoln accomplished as much as he could within a democratic system of government. This was a large factor as during the war with the Confederacy as he was in a position without any opposition within his government of banning slavery in the Confederate states unlike a proposal of the full abolition of slavery would have had. He used the war efforts as a method of achieving a goal of his that he had held for a while. Therefore this was the full extent of his power of which he continued to have support of the majority of the population as he once said “Our government rests in public opinion. Whoever can change public opinion, can change the government, practically just so much.” (Speech at Chicago) The ultimate result was a country which would eventually support abolitionism and the seeds of which Lincoln planted in the nation are a reason for why he could be considered The Great Emancipator. Lincoln did have many faults however …show more content…
Many of the slaves who would later be freed returned to similar lifestyles proving that Lincoln issued the proclamation as a way of weakening the force of the Confederacy. Lincoln could also be argued to not be a Great Emancipator due to his views of freed slaves. One was him being a supporter of colonization of freed slaves. Lincoln may have supported the freedom of slaves, but he also believed that a multiracial nation would be worse off as he describes his ideas on colonization “that neither races nor individuals shall have suffered by the change, it will indeed be a glorious consummation.” (Eulogy of Henry Clay) In order to be referred as The Great Emancipator you must be a figurehead or example for others and his support of colonization directly opposed this. He also has been quoted as saying "I as much as any other man am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race” during a senate race debate with Sen. Stephan Douglas. We must also take into consideration that there was most likely not one sole Great Emancipator. It was a collection of many abolitionists and slaves’ efforts. The Union had almost no control of the affairs in the Confederacy during the war and therefore the Emancipation Proclamation had little effect on slaves in the Confederacy. This means that the slaves were the ones