Slavery and the Underground Railroad
Exploring slavery and the network that lead them to freedomEmancipation
Most Americans know that the Civil War was fought to abolish slavery. What many don’t know is that the North did not prioritize the abolition of slavery until the Civil War had already lasted a full year. Despite a vociferous anti-slavery campaign from abolitionists in the North, a large majority of people, particularly a large number of soldiers, opposed slavery but did not support the idea of emancipation. These individuals anticipated that slavery would eventually end on its own.
Confiscation Act
Early in 1861, Republicans began to campaign for the immediate and complete abolition of slavery. In order to avoid escalating the situation with the “rebellious states,” President Abraham Lincoln used extreme caution. The Confiscation Act was passed by Congress despite the fact that the majority of the Republican opponents had left the Union and there appeared to be no opposition. The first Confiscation Act was passed on August 6, 1861, and it gave the Union the authority to seize the property of the Confederacy and declared that all slaves who served in the Confederate military were released from further ties to their owners. President Abraham Lincoln opposed the law on the grounds that it might cause border states to secede in order to save slavery within their borders, particularly Kentucky and Missouri.
A preliminary proclamation
Midway through 1862, Lincoln had begun to see the necessity of abolishing slavery. In addition to abhorring the institution, he also believed that the South could not rejoin the Union after attempting to destroy it. General George McClellan, Lincoln’s military chief, was adamantly opposed to emancipation. Many Republicans opposed giving blacks more rights and supported laws that prohibited blacks from settling in their areas. Lincoln’s cabinet advised him to wait until the Union secured a big military victory when he said he wanted to make a proclamation of freedom in the middle of 1862.
Congress then passed the Second Confiscation Act in 1862 as a result of the momentum created by this one law continuing to grow. On September 22, 1962, in the midst of the Civil War, President Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, stating that if the rebel states did not put a stop to hostilities and re-join the Union by January 1, 1863, all slaves in those states would become free.
Henceforward shall be free
Lincoln declared that he had never felt “more positive that I was doing the right thing” after signing the Proclamation. The Proclamation only applied behind enemy lines; no one was freed when it went into force. However, the Emancipation Proclamation marked the beginning of the U.S. government’s journey toward abolition, and it forced almost 200,000 slaves to flee the South and fight for the Union. Lincoln transformed the nature of the conflict by providing it with a new moral justification. He demonstrated that the moment had come for the country’s policies to be in line with the Declaration of Independence’s guarantee that “…all men are created equal.”
The 4 million slaves in the South felt little immediate change as a result of the proclamation, but it did make abolition a war goal for the Union, and when the U.S. Army marched into the Confederacy, it transformed into an army of liberation. Additionally, the proclamation made it possible for nearly 200,000 African-Americans to enlist in the US military during the conflict.
The 54th Massachusetts
Enlistments quickly rose after Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. African Americans were enlisting in Union regiments across the nation by the hundreds to serve as sailors and soldiers. The 54th Massachusetts Infantry, under the command of Robert Gould Shaw, was the most well-known of all the African American battalions. The African American soldiers were commanded by a Caucasian officer, as were all other regiments at the period. During the summer of 1863, the 54th Massachusetts Infantry earned a reputation for bravery in Charleston, South Carolina. Confederate forces ultimately won the battle despite losing half of their regiment in the attempt to capture a Confederate fort.
Ammunition
Unfair treatment
The African American soldiers were marginalized and treated unfairly even after the increase in enlistment and combat engagement. The majority of the men were still employed in manual labor behind enemy lines, such as trench digging or moving food and water. They gave this support, forming the “backbone” of the Union army. In addition, the pay for African American soldiers was reduced by a third from that of a Caucasian soldier. Additionally, if a white soldier was taken in the south, the two sides would make a deal and swap prisoners, but if an African American soldier was captured, they would be summarily executed.
Did it free the slaves?
There is a myth that the Emancipation Proclamation did not free any slaves. This is accurate in a sense. As a measure to take enemy resources, the proclamation would only be applicable to the Confederate States. Lincoln was inadvertently releasing people by emancipating slaves in the Confederacy. He presented the Proclamation in a way that convinced most of the Union forces that it was valid. He promoted emancipation as a means of lowering Confederate power and lengthening the war by removing Southern resources. Even as a soldier, McClellan agreed with the approach. Lincoln didn’t make the border states a similar offer of freedom. The Emancipation Proclamation is significant because it serves as a potent symbol. The symbolism of the declaration of freedom demonstrated that the Civil War was waged to abolish slavery in order to protect everyone’s freedom as well as the Union as a whole.
The 13th Amendment
Lincoln declared the Emancipation Proclamation to be “the major act of my administration, and the greatest event of the nineteenth century” in February 1865, two months before the war came to a close. Lincoln and his fellow citizens realized that the proclamation had effectively put an end to slavery in the country; the Thirteenth Amendment’s ratification in December 1865 confirmed slavery’s demise.
On December 6, 1865, the 13th Amendment was passed and it states that “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, unless as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their authority.” Slavery in the United States finally found a constitutional resolution with the ratification of the 13th Amendment. The 13th Amendment is one of the three Civil War-era amendments, together with the 14th and 15th, that significantly increased Americans’ civil rights.
Lincoln on Slavery
Lincoln personally detested slavery and thought it was morally repugnant. In a now-famous speech delivered in Peoria, Illinois, in 1854, he declared, “If the negro is a man, then my ancient faith teaches me that ‘all men are created equal;’ and that there can be no moral validity in connection with one man’s making a slave of another.” Lincoln, however, was of the opinion that the Constitution only granted the federal government the authority to forbid its construction in new western territories that might eventually become states, not the authority to abolish it in the states where it already existed. He stated that he had “no purpose, directly or indirectly, to meddle with slavery in the States where it exists” in his first inaugural address in early 1861.
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Vocabulary
Abstain – restrain oneself from doing or enjoying something.
Congress – a national legislative body, especially that of the US.
Executive – having the power to put plans, actions, or laws into effect.
Garrison -the troops stationed in a fortress or town to defend it.
Proclamation – a public or official announcement, especially one dealing with a matter of great importance.
Rebellion – an act of violent or open resistance to an established government or ruler.
Represent – be entitled or appointed to act or speak for (someone), especially in an official capacity.
Repress – restrain, prevent, or inhibit the expression or development of something
Warrant – a document issued by a legal or government official authorizing the police or some other body to make an arrest, search premises, or carry out some other action relating to the administration of justice.