Up until the Emancipation Proclamation, there were many different reasons for why the Civil War was being fought, because no one would acknowledge the real underlying cause. The Union was anti-slavery and the Confederacy was pro-slavery, but neither acknowledged that this was a cause of the war. The Emancipation Proclamation “freed” slaves in rebellious, Confederate, territory. Many southerners disagreed with the Emancipation Proclamation and kept their slaves because it was not a law that they were free. President Lincoln was under serious fire for the document, but he said it was “a necessity of war, to weaken the enemy.” The blacks that were able to escape slavery found refuge in the Union army. President Lincoln’s close friend, Frederick Douglas, pushed him to allow blacks to fight in the war and more importantly for their freedom. From the moment the Emancipation Proclamation was issued, the focus of the war had changed. A Civil War that was being fought to protect either side had turned into a war being fought for the freedom of slaves. Within the first few months following the document, the first African-American troops would serve in the Civil War. One of the most famous black regiments would become the 54th Maine, led by Robert Gould Shaw. The introduction of black regiments in the Union army would frighten the Confederates, since many of them were former slaves under the control of Southerners, and now they were in the war to protect the Union and earn their freedom. What the South considered to be a passing document, became the 13th Amendment which was passed on December 6th in the same year the Union won the Civil War. The Emancipation Proclamation became the crowning achievement of his presidency. President Lincoln once said, “I never, in my life, felt more certain that I was doing right, than I do in signing this paper...If my
Up until the Emancipation Proclamation, there were many different reasons for why the Civil War was being fought, because no one would acknowledge the real underlying cause. The Union was anti-slavery and the Confederacy was pro-slavery, but neither acknowledged that this was a cause of the war. The Emancipation Proclamation “freed” slaves in rebellious, Confederate, territory. Many southerners disagreed with the Emancipation Proclamation and kept their slaves because it was not a law that they were free. President Lincoln was under serious fire for the document, but he said it was “a necessity of war, to weaken the enemy.” The blacks that were able to escape slavery found refuge in the Union army. President Lincoln’s close friend, Frederick Douglas, pushed him to allow blacks to fight in the war and more importantly for their freedom. From the moment the Emancipation Proclamation was issued, the focus of the war had changed. A Civil War that was being fought to protect either side had turned into a war being fought for the freedom of slaves. Within the first few months following the document, the first African-American troops would serve in the Civil War. One of the most famous black regiments would become the 54th Maine, led by Robert Gould Shaw. The introduction of black regiments in the Union army would frighten the Confederates, since many of them were former slaves under the control of Southerners, and now they were in the war to protect the Union and earn their freedom. What the South considered to be a passing document, became the 13th Amendment which was passed on December 6th in the same year the Union won the Civil War. The Emancipation Proclamation became the crowning achievement of his presidency. President Lincoln once said, “I never, in my life, felt more certain that I was doing right, than I do in signing this paper...If my