To many nineteenth century Americans, the expansion of slavery into Western territories caused a great deal of controversy. Since the drafting of the Constitution in 1787, the North and the South had grown further apart in terms of economy, ideology, and society. The North, especially, “was afraid that the South would force its peculiar institution” upon the entire Union (Pruitt). These fears were realized when the expansion of slavery into western territories entered Congressional debates. While the South utilized slavery to sustain its culture and grow cotton on plantations, the North prospered during the Industrial Revolution. Northern cities, “the center of industry in the United States, became major metropolises” due to an influx of immigrants (Guelzo). With this willing and cheap workforce, the North did not require a slave system. Although some northerners found the institution of slavery morally reprehensible, most did not believe in complete racial equality either. Slavery became even more divisive when it threatened to expand westward because non-slave holding white settlers did not want to compete with slaveholders in the new territories. During these major times of tension within the nation, abolitionists appeared and began to fight for the slave’s rights. One of the main white abolitionists of this time was William Lloyd Garrison, who published The Liberator, which was a newspaper article was written for the common people and the public, but was directed to those against and for slavery, or in other words those who had an opinion on the topic. This speech was created to strengthen the beliefs of those who were involved: slaves, African Americans, and women, and to persuade others that were for slavery to shift their beliefs, as he wrote “I am in earnest — I will not equivocate — I will not excuse — I will not retreat a single inch — AND I WILL BE HEARD” (Garrison). Though, his words in the newspaper were passionate and intense, Garrison was trying to portray how slavery was an immoral act, which lead to him calling for others to take part of his anti-slavery sentiment for more support. Not only were there white abolitionists, black abolitionists, like Frederick Douglass were prominent and dedicated to the slavery matter at hand. Douglass delivered a memorable speech on the Fourth of July in 1852 describing the harsh conditions of slaves at that time. Douglass begins his speech by addressing "Mr. President, Friends and Fellow Citizens" (Douglass). Here, he is likely addressing the president of the Anti-Slavery Society —not the president of the United States and to bring into hindsight that Douglass considers himself a citizen, an equal to the spectators in attendance. He touches on the history of the American Revolutionaries' fight for freedom against their legal bondage under British rules, which Douglass thereby sets up an argument for the freeing of slaves. Similarly, he reasons, in 1852, people consider abolitionism a dangerous and subversive political stance. Douglass thus implies that future generations will probably consider his anti-slavery stance patriotic, just, and reasonable, as he condemns America for being untrue to its founding principles, its past, and its present. As slavery tensions grew in the 1860s, a presidential election between former Illinois Senator and Republican against Democrat John C. Breckenridge, as Lincoln had most of the votes of the North he defeated Breckenridge and went on to play a large role in the issue of slavery.
Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, was born on February 12, Lincoln’s participation in active national politics took a turn for the better in 1842 when he campaigned and was elected to the US House of Representatives. While at the House of Representatives, Lincoln accomplished a number of things including accrediting the American-Mexican war to then president, Polk. Lincoln was, however, not a popular figure with the democrats, due to his speeches that tended to go against the beliefs of the Democratic Party. Throughout the election period, Lincoln did not give any speeches but instead gave the Republican organization charge of any speeches that were required. On the 6th day of November 1860, Lincoln assumed the highest office in the US when he was elected to the office of the president of the land. It was during “Lincoln’s presidency that the Civil War began, it is even said that Lincoln was a cause of the war” (Delbanco). The Civil War began due to ongoing slavery tensions between the North and South, the South’s decision to secede and form the Confederacy, as well as Lincoln’s act of preserving the Union. 1. Lincoln did believe that slavery was morally wrong, but there was one big problem: the highest law in the land, the Constitution, sanctioned it. Though Lincoln argued that the founding fathers’ phrase “all men are created equal” applied to blacks and whites alike, this did not mean he thought they should have the same social and political rights (Madison). His views became clear during an 1858 series of debates with his opponent in the Illinois race for U.S. Senate, Stephen Douglas, “who had accused him of supporting negro equality” (Wilson). For much of his career, Lincoln believed that colonization—or the idea that a majority of the African-American population should leave the United States and settle in Africa or Central America—was the best way to confront the problem of slavery. As much as he hated the institution of slavery, Lincoln didn’t see the Civil War as a struggle to free the nation’s 4 million slaves from bondage.
While Lincoln personally felt that freeing the slaves would be “an act of justice,” he had to consider whether or “not such an act was constitutional” (Lincoln). He also realized that he could not free all of the slaves, including those in the border states that were vital to the Union’s success in the war. Lincoln determined that emancipating slaves in the areas of rebellion that were not under federal control was “warranted by the Constitution” as “a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing said rebellion” (Lincoln). Slave labor was used to support the Confederate Army, he reasoned, and therefore gave the Confederacy a distinct advantage in the beginning of the war. Lincoln surmised that freeing these slaves would weaken the power of the Confederate army, thus justifying the Emancipation Proclamation as an act of military necessity that was valid under the Constitution. After determining the proclamation’s constitutionality, Lincoln had to consider the political atmosphere and the timing of his announcement. The Union had not yet won a major battle in the East and not everyone in the North supported the idea of fighting a war for the freedom of slaves. Lincoln and his advisors agreed that a victory was needed before any announcement of and emancipation proclamation could be made. This victory would raise morale and support for the war from the public while showing that the Union army was strong enough to fight the rebellion on its own. The Battle of Antietam, September 17, 1862, proved to be exactly what would let Lincoln’s ideas be passed and boost the Union’s confidence in the war. Although the tactical results of the bloody battle were inconclusive, General Robert E. Lee and his army retreated back to Virginia, allowing Lincoln to claim a strategic victory. On September 22, 1862, “Lincoln released the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, which served as a warning to the states in rebellion: if they did not rejoin the Union by January 1, 1863, their slaves would be freed” (Wilson). The fighting continued, however, with no rebellious states have joined the Union, the Emancipation Proclamation took effect in the ten rebellious states—Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia. In the Proclamation Lincoln declared, “All persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free.” He also pledged that, “the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons” (Lincoln). However, because Lincoln did not want to incite a slave rebellion, he cautioned the freed slaves to abstain from all violence, unless in “necessary self-defense” (Lincoln). He also recommended that “in all cases when allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonable wages" (Lincoln). The Emancipation Proclamation changed the meaning and purpose of the Civil War. The war was no longer just about preserving the Union— it was also about freeing the slaves, and foreign powers such as Britain and France lost their enthusiasm for supporting the Confederacy, because they didn’t want to support the side that they saw would be defeated. Furthermore, the Emancipation Proclamation also stated that, “Such persons of suitable condition, will be received into the armed service of the United States,” allowing African Americans to join the army, and they eagerly did so, aiding the Union war effort. Over the course of the war, roughly 200,000 African-Americans served in the Union forces. Although many more amendments and laws would need to be passed before African-Americans enjoyed the full rights of citizenship, the Emancipation Proclamation was the first bold step in that process.
After the emancipation of slaves in 1862, the status of African-Americans in post Civil War America up until the beginning of the twentieth century did not go through a significant change especially for the blacks. During this time, copious legislation was passed to help blacks in this period. The Civil Rights Act of 1875 prohibited segregation in public facilities and various government amendments gave African-Americans even more guaranteed rights. Though the “thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendments were passed to politically establish” rights for the blacks, they still didn’t feel like they were free within society (Freedman). Even with this government legislation, the newly designated freedmen were still discriminated against by most people and, ironically, they were soon to be restricted and segregated once again under government rulings in important court cases of the era. Reconstruction was “intended to give African-Americans the chance for a new and better life,” but many of them stayed with their old masters after being freed, while others left in search of opportunity through education as well as land ownership (Guelzo). There were many constraints placed on freedmen, chiefly by white supremacists and the laws and restrictions that they had created and passed. Beginning with the “Black Codes established by President Johnson's reconstruction plan”, blacks were required to have a curfew as well as carry identification (National Geographic). Labor contracts established during Reconstruction even bound the freedmen to their respective plantations. A few years later, another set of laws known as the “Jim Crow” laws directly undermined the status of blacks by placing arbitrary restrictions on everything from voting rights all the way to the segregation of water fountains. Besides these restrictions, the blacks had to deal with the Democratic Party whose northern wing even denounced racial equality. As a result of democratic hostility and the Republican Party's support of Black suffrage, freedmen greatly supported the Republican Party.