The complicated reasons for Lincoln’s first Emancipation Proclamation

Type :

Term papers

Pages :

6 pages

Format :

.doc

Published date :

04/29/2009

Category :

Law & contracts

Sub category :

Constitutional law

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Summary :

Introduction
Brown's action: Part of a frustrated attempt to forcibly end slavery
The tension in the Union leading up to the Civil War
McPherson's comparison of the mood in the South to the fear found in the French countryside prior to the French Revolution
The rebellious attitude in New England
The attitude towards slavery in the South
Moseley's analysis of the popular songs of the civil war era
Conclusion
Bibliography

Abstract

On the eve of the American Civil War, the key issue in the run up to the election was whether or not slavery would be extended into the new expanding territories and states opening in the West. (McPherson, 1988) This same issue sparked the misguided attack upon the South by John Brown and a few of his supporters, joined together into a group called the "Secret Six" in 1860. (McPherson, 1988) The same issue, the containment or expansion of slavery into new parts of America would cause lincoln, a relatively unknown politician, to win the Republican nomination in Chicago in 1861, and the Presidency in the general election. (Jaffa, 2000) The election would begin the process of Southern states ceding from the Union. In the last days of Buchanan's presidency, the ineffectual, corrupt Buchanan stood by as Southern states started to leave, frightened the election of lincoln would bring about the end of their cherished institution -- slavery. (Marvel: 7-10).In 1862, lincoln, who claimed before the election to be a moral supporter of abolition, instituted the first of his emancipation Proclamations, which would eventually end slavery in the U.S. However, as Marvel writes when the Civil War had already begun, radical politicians and military in lincoln's administration complained he was not doing enough to address the need to end slavery directly. (Marvel: 264-265) This paper will examine this proclamation and why lincoln pronounced it when he did. How far did it go? What were the grievances of the South that caused them to cede from the Union in 1861? Was the Civil War really fought over the issue of slavery, and if so, to what extent was the emancipation proclamation of 1862 a key moment in lincoln's shift to greater awareness of the need for a direct statement against slavery? Why did it take him till near the end of the war to actually enact a 2nd proclamation that abolished slavery in the entire U.S.?