Prevarication Proclamation

Nelson Maldonado
US 101
Professor Barclay
12/5/2014

Many view the Emancipation Proclamation as a moral decision to free slaves in the civil
war; however, this was only one small factor of the Emancipation Proclamation. The
Emancipation proclamation was presented first in September 1862, but was issued later by
Abraham Lincoln on January 1st the next year. One quote that is used often in the subject of the
Emancipation Proclamation is that the slaves were then, thenceforward, and forever free. This
quote, directly from the Emancipation Proclamation, provides a positive connotation to the

document, making it seem as though its purpose was to free slaves. What is not usually
mentioned is the circumstances in which the slaves would be freed. Abraham Lincoln wanted to
keep the union intact and so took actions to ensure the unity of the United States of America.
Simply freeing slaves would only anger the south, so instead it was used as a threat to the
rebelling states as well as an incentive for slave states to remain loyal to the Union. The
Emancipation Proclamation was not step towards equality of the races, rather it was a
comprehensive military strategy to win the war.
The Emancipation Proclamation was not designed to bring equality to African Slaves in
the Americas. The Emancipation Proclamation was designed to help prevent or end the war
quickly and was not meant to help slaves. The Emancipation Proclamation stated That on the
1st day of January, AD 1863, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a
State the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United states shall be then,
thenceforward and forever free The Proclamation only mentions that slaves who were in
rebelling states were set free, otherwise the states who did not rebel could keep their slaves.
The North and those who were responsible for putting together the Proclamation cared less
about the freeing of slaves and more about the unity of the United States. Those slave states
who did not rebel were able to keep their slaves according to the Emancipation Proclamation.
Even President Lincoln only saw the Proclamation as a means to an end. In a letter from Lincoln
to general Henry Halleck it reads Dear Sir:... I have not meant to leave any one in doubt. My
paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or destroy
slavery and explains that If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it
(Zinn 191). Lincoln's primary concern was to preserve the Union so that the United States could
continue, not to free slaves. Freeing slaves was only a means to keep the country together. In
fact most northerners were opposed to the idea that the Emancipation Proclamation presented.
They did not want to free the slaves more than gain stability in the country once more as well as
avoid war. As the London Spectator wrote concisely: The principle is not that a human being

cannot justly own another, but that he cannot own him unless he is loyal to the United States
(Zinn 192). The Emancipation Proclamation was not addressing or preventing the moral issue of
slavery, rather it was manipulating it to be a source of control over the south. The mentality was
that if the south feared the north enough to believe they were a threat to slavery then they would
be obedient. Lincoln in fact actually had previously made plans to have slaves deported to
different countries after their emancipation in America. Files and letters sent by Lincoln were
uncovered and They found an order from Mr Lincoln in June 1863 authorising a British colonial
agent, John Hodge, to recruit freed slaves to be sent to colonies in what are now the countries
of Guyana and Belize (Swaine). Lincoln never intended to keep the emancipated slaves in the
United States after they had been freed. He made plans to send the slaves either overseas or to
countries in South and Central America. Lincoln had an honest desire that the emigration went
on (Swaine). Lincoln sought after the deportation of the freed slaves before and after the
Emancipation Proclamation was invoked. New evidence published in the book Colonization
After Emancipation: Lincoln and the Movement for Black Resettlement shows that [Lincoln did
continue the effort (to deport freed slaves) for at least a year after the proclamation was signed
(Dinan). His dedication to the emigration or deportation of freed slaves even after the
Emancipation Proclamation was issued reveals that it was issued with no intention of bringing
any equality to freed slaves. He may have wanted to free the slaves but he had never wanted to
let them live in America alongside him. The purpose of the Emancipation Proclamation was not
to free and bring equality to slaves, but to bring unity to the country.
The Emancipation Proclamation was a military tactic that allowed the war to come to a
close sooner than it would have otherwise. In September 1862 Lincoln issued his preliminary
Emancipation Proclamation, it was a military move, giving the South four months to stop
rebelling, threatening to emancipate their slaves if they continued to fight, promising to leave
slavery untouched in states that came over to the North (Zinn 191). The Emancipation
Proclamation was a military move before the Civil War had even started. It was an intelligent

first move in the war as it paid off later. First and foremost it gave the South time to reconsider
and gave a consequence if they did not comply. This kept at least the border states in check
until martial law could be implemented in those states. The Civil War Trust speaks about when
Lincoln first proposed the idea of the Emancipation Proclamation to his cabinet in the summer
of 1862 as a war measure to cripple the Confederacy. He thought that if the South could no
longer use [slaves] as laborers to support the army in the field it would end up hindering the
effectiveness of the Confederate war effort (CWT). The idea of the Emancipation Proclamation
was first proposed as a military strategy to create disarray in the South by freeing their slaves.
Eventually slaves in the South began to hear about the Emancipation Proclamation leading to
some revolts and other acts of rebellion as well as fearful slaves who stayed in their routine.
Damaging the Souths labor force was only the beginning of the Emancipation Proclamation
relevance in the war. After the Emancipation Proclamation was issued the Union army was
open to black. And the more blacks entered the war, the more it appeared a war for their
liberation. The more whites had to sacrifice, the more resentment there was (Zinn 192). With
the Proclamation in effect black men were able to join the Union army. The Proclamation
represented the freedom of their people and so the moral and drive was their for black men to
join the army. This gave the Union many more troops to work with. Not only did black men from
the north join the war but almost every slave that escaped the South joined the war cause when
they reached the North. By providing more troops to the Union, the Proclamation also alleviated
some stress on the white population of the United States, specifically the soldiers fighting the
war. This increased confidence and moral in the Union while fighting the Civil War. According to
the United States Archives By the end of the Civil War, roughly 179,000 black men (10% of the
Union Army) served as soldiers in the U.S. Army (US Archives). With 179,000 extra men at
their disposal, the union would defeat the Confederates just two years after the Emancipation
Proclamation. The Emancipation Proclamation was a military tactic that was of immense
advantage throughout the Civil War.

The Emancipation Proclamation was first and foremost a military move that was
designed with no other purpose than to win the Civil War and united the country once more. The
Proclamation was not issued in the interest of freeing slaves because it was morally wrong,
rather because it was necessary to unite the country. It provided many advantages and much
needed support in the war that lead ultimately to a shorter war, sparing many American lives on
both sides. By issuing the Emancipation Proclamation the President and the legislature where
doing what they were designed to do, protect and unite the American people.

Works Cited
"Black Soldiers in the Civil War." National Archives and Records Administration. National
Archives and Records Administration, n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2014.
Council on Foreign Relations. Council on Foreign Relations, n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2014.
Dinan, Stephen. "Book: Lincoln Sought to Deport Freed Slaves." Washington Times. The
Washington Times, n.d. Web. 05 Dec. 2014.
"Emancipation_Proclamation." National Archives and Records Administration. National Archives
and Records Administration, n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2014.
Swaine, Jon. "Abraham Lincoln 'wanted to Deport Slaves' to New Colonies." The Telegraph.
Telegraph Media Group, 02 Nov. 0011. Web. 05 Dec. 2014.
Zinn, Howard. A People's History of the United States. New York: Harper & Row, 1980. Print.