After reading Oates' article on the Emancipation Proclamation, I realize that creating and publishing the statement took a great deal more effort and planning than I originally thought. When creating this proclamation, Lincoln not only had to take his personal feelings on the issue of slavery into consideration, but also the border states that were still loyal to the Union, the two political parties that dominated the North, and foreign relations with countries such as Great Britain. Also, the President had to wait for the ideal time to publish the proclamation to insure its success. All of Lincoln's most trusted advisers stated that he must not give the emancipation order until the Union army had won a military victory, so that foreign nations would not see it as a final attempt to compensate for military failure in battle. However, even after all of this careful planning and hard work, Lincoln's emancipation was still considered to be ineffective, as he had no real authority over the slaves belonging to the Confederate states who had seceded from the Union. Overall, I learned that President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation was not as easy to create as I originally believed.
I originally thought that the Emancipation Proclamation was a political move to cripple the Confederacy's war effort but after reading the packet I now understand more. I now understand that it was a move to help the North's war effort (collecting black troops), a move to prevent international intervention on the South's behalf (villainizing the south in international eyes), and an assertion of power (proclamation after severe victory asserted Northern power) among other things. The packet was eye opening in terms of the background workings of the proclamation too.
When originally learning about the Emancipation proclamation, I thought that Lincoln's actions were all based on political moves in order to help the Union in war. The packet stated, "Already Northern Democrats were upset with Lincoln's harsh war measures...but Negro emancipation was more than they could stand and they stumped the Northern states that fall, beating the drums of Negrophobia. Northern voters dealt the Republicans a smashing blow, as the North"s five most populous states...now returned Democratic majorities." After reading this packet I was surprised to see how much a detrimental affect the proclamation had on politics for the North, specifically the Republican party. I thought Lincoln would have chosen what was best for his political party and campaign but the fact he went completely against it was surprising. Also, I suspected a more positive reaction to the proclamation in the north. I thought most people were going to be pleased with the actions and give them the reason of equality to keep fighting in the war. I expected still racism in the North but was shocked by the large majority of people who were against freeing the slaves. If these people agreed with wanting to preserve the Union, I thought most people liked the Emancipation Proclamation because to finally restore peace, freedom for the slaves was necessary.
After reading the article on the Emancipation Proclamation, I realized how many different times the issue came about and how many times Lincoln felt ending slavery really was not going to be possible without crippling the existing Union. I also did not know that throughout the process of creating the Emancipation, a lot of times other members of congress were the ones to create or help with the basic idea of how Lincoln could go about freeing the slaves. However, with the final attempt, Lincoln was the one who originally thought of the idea and it was just approved by the other members of congress. What I also did not realize was that through the steps of creating a successful way to end slavery, the slave states not in rebellion really were able to go against whatever Lincoln said about getting rid of slaves because they knew he would rather keep them in the union then actually get rid of slaves.
After reading this article I realized how strategic the Emancipation Proclamation truly was. Before, when I heard about this proclamation, I always thought it was about the North finally getting sick of the South’s pro-slavery agenda. I thought that when the North finally decided slavery was morally wrong and did something to change it, that this document was the result. However, this article makes it clear that the moral dilemma of the North was only a very small part of the equation. In the first part of the article it seems as if the proclamation was derived for solely political, not social purposes. As the article went on, it appeared as if Lincoln believed in the cause more and more. It was almost as if the idea of the proclamation came first, and Lincoln’s beliefs followed after much convincing from his advisors. The Emancipation Proclamation is something that seems like such an admirably moral statement by the North to abolish slavery. However, it was an extremely strategic move that became about morality only after it had been in existence for many months.
My understanding of the Emancipation Proclamation has deepened as I better understand the detail and planning that went into it. Before, I was aware that it may give the Union an edge in the war, without knowing all of the reasons why. Although the original plan was just to continue slave containment, pressures caused Lincoln to start wavering in his opinion. I found out that he only issued the proclamation after many other failed attempts to stick close to plan to just save the Union. He even gave the Confederacy a warning about what he was going to do. The proclamation did not just finally allow America to fulfill the ideal of equality, but also freed people who had been enslaved their whole lives. It also would keep Britain away from the civil war, and keep the Northern Democrats and the border states on the same side as the Union all while hurting the Confederacy. Also, I find it important that it removed the cause of the war, as without it, another war could be easily started in the future even if this one was resolved. The reasoning that backed up the Emancipation Proclamation in the article helped improve my understanding of the motivations and reasons behind the proclamation, as it is not only to abolish slavery because of the moral implication, but in addition accomplishes many more important things.
I did not understand the extensive planning that went into the Emancipation Proclamation by President Lincoln before I read this article. Oakes exposed Lincoln's cleverness when creating the proclamation, along with the endless barriers he faced surrounding how the EP would be viewed by the rest of his dying country. I also did not understand how passionate Lincoln felt about the proclamation and how committed he was toward enacting it. Oakes' article helped me understand how many components went into EP and how much Lincoln had to consider when writing it, such as both the North and South's reactions as well as his fellow government officials. I originally thought that the EP was Lincoln's attempt to prove to the South that he still had power over them and that slavery was going to come to an end whether they liked it or not. I thought that the adversity during the civil war caused Lincoln to feel that as President he needed to make some sort of large step. Though Oakes explains how the EP was originally one of Lincoln's last resorts, as he put more thought into it his passion for the cause greatly increased. After reading Oakes' article, I now understand that the whole Proclamation was actually Lincoln's thought-out plan to reunite the United States through cleverness and faith in his nation.
After reading Oates’ article on the Emancipation Proclamation, I better understand how Lincoln’s methods of addressing slavery during civil war changed. In the beginning of the war, he said that his party and his objective of the war was strictly to save the Union, not to abolish slavery. Lincoln’s goal was to, “restore the national authority in the South with slavery intact.” However, as the war continued, the problems and pressures of the civil war caused him to change his objectives, and Lincoln made emancipation a Union war goal. Lincoln’s focus on emancipation intensified over time, and he made it clear that emancipation was the main objective of the war. This change can also be seen in Lincoln’s public speeches. During the beginning of the war, he was clear that emancipation wasn’t the aim of the war, but saving the union. However, by his second term when he gave his inaugural address, Lincoln made slavery the main focus of the war cause. This change in how Lincoln addressed slavery as an issue over the course of the war was evident in Oates’ article.
After reading Oates’ article on the Emancipation Proclamation, it was easier for me to understand the reason why Lincoln changed the purpose or motive of the civil war. Originally, I knew that abolishing slavery was an important issue that the United States needed to address. However, I was confused as to why Lincoln would issue the Emancipation Proclamation because I thought his main concern was uniting the states. In the article, Oates shows that resolving the slavery issue would actually help bring together the states. He wrote, “If he (Lincoln) emancipated the slaves, it would maim and cripple the Confederacy and hasten an end to the rebellion”(Oates). The only way to resolve the war and help America move on was by solving the slavery issue first. Oates’ article proves that the Emancipation Proclamation was not only beneficial to the abolitionists but also to keeping the United States together and eventually ending the civil war.
Oates' article has increased my overall understanding of the Emancipation Proclamation immensely. Prior to reading the article, I merely understood the basic ideas and motives behind the Proclamation. I knew Lincoln's motives and goals, but this article deepened my understanding of the incredible pressure Lincoln was under from his outside contemporaries. Several members of the Republican party, such as Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts, put a lot of pressure on Lincoln to free the slaves. Lincoln, however, had a very hands off philosophy when it came to slavery, and was very hesitant to issue the proclamation. He was fearful of losing the border states, and had to go through thorough planning to make the Proclamation work. Before reading this article, I thought Lincoln was responsible for the majority of the work behind the proclamation, but in reality Sumner led the way. He convinced Lincoln that this would benefit the Union not only by morally strengthening it, but also create allies with European countries. This article presented a behind the scenes look to the Emancipation Proclamation, highlighting aspects that are less known to society.
Oates' article about the Emancipation Proclamation increased my understanding of what the proclamation actually did. Previously, I had thought that the proclamation just freed all of the slaves in the Union and the Confederacy and that it was the event that completely got rid of slavery once and for all. After reading the article, I learned that the proclamation did not really have that much of a direct effect on slavery; it only affected the states in rebellion, where the Union did not have power or jurisdiction in the first place. This made me realize that the proclamation was not really the deciding factor that ended slavery, it was little more than propaganda. Before reading the article, I also thought that the Emancipation Proclamation was issued mainly for the purpose of freeing the slaves, but now I understand that it was more of a political move. The proclamation was mainly issued in order to help the Union win the war by giving the troops morale, bringing in more recruits, and preventing Britain from supporting the Confederacy. Also, since it could not actually be enforced in the rebelling states, since the Union had no control in them, the proclamation did not actually make much direct progress towards ending slavery, so most of the actual emancipation occurred after the war ended. Reading the article completely changed my understanding of the Emancipation Proclamation; instead of being the powerful proclamation that was responsible for ending slavery as I thought previously, it was just a strategic piece of political propaganda that acted as a catalyst in the process.
Previous to reading Oates' article on the Emancipation Proclamation, I thought that Lincoln issued it primarily to get the border states on his side, aside from the obvious moral reason. I never realized the long-term impacts of issuing the proclamation. In Oate’s article, he said, “Should the South return to the Union with slavery intact, as Lincoln desired, Southerners would just start another war over slavery, whenever they thought it threatened again.” Even if the Union was restored, the slavery issue was never going to be resolved with peace. It was better to resolve it with the Civil War while it was already an issue on the forefront of people's minds then to push it aside any longer. This would have led to yet another war.
Before reading the article, I had believed that the Emancipation Proclamation's sole purpose was to free the slaves. The article shed light on who the Proclamation targeted and how it evidently did not result in much change. I learned how Lincoln used the Proclamation as a tool to boost his chances for the upcoming election by proving the Republicans and Abolitionists that he was following through with the ideals of the two groups. It also became clear how the South became villains in the eyes of foreign powers because of the refusal to abolish slavery. Another political motive that was apparent was to try to get the boarder states on the side of the Union. The Emancipation Proclamation did not target the boarder states because they wanted to ensure that they would want to remain a part of the Union. Lastly, I discovered how the Proclamation gave morale to the Union soldiers. I had previously thought that the war was solely about slavery and the soldiers were constantly motivated. This article showed how this act generated morale within the Union soldiers.
Before reading the article I just thought that the emancipation proclamation was an easy decision that came after an easy win. However, this is not true. I did not know that Lincoln before the proclamation was trying a hands off policy. He was trying to get states to voluntarily adopt emancipation laws. But this did not work. I also did not know so many border states still had slaves. In addition, I learned that the emancipation was the result of a a lot of political pressure. Lincoln was being sequestered by sumner and other abolitionist senators. He also had pressure on the other side from the democrats. The Democrats were against the emancipation because of racist fears that black people would migrate north after the war.
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ReplyDeleteAfter reading Oates' article on the Emancipation Proclamation, I realize that creating and publishing the statement took a great deal more effort and planning than I originally thought. When creating this proclamation, Lincoln not only had to take his personal feelings on the issue of slavery into consideration, but also the border states that were still loyal to the Union, the two political parties that dominated the North, and foreign relations with countries such as Great Britain. Also, the President had to wait for the ideal time to publish the proclamation to insure its success. All of Lincoln's most trusted advisers stated that he must not give the emancipation order until the Union army had won a military victory, so that foreign nations would not see it as a final attempt to compensate for military failure in battle. However, even after all of this careful planning and hard work, Lincoln's emancipation was still considered to be ineffective, as he had no real authority over the slaves belonging to the Confederate states who had seceded from the Union. Overall, I learned that President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation was not as easy to create as I originally believed.
ReplyDeleteI originally thought that the Emancipation Proclamation was a political move to cripple the Confederacy's war effort but after reading the packet I now understand more. I now understand that it was a move to help the North's war effort (collecting black troops), a move to prevent international intervention on the South's behalf (villainizing the south in international eyes), and an assertion of power (proclamation after severe victory asserted Northern power) among other things. The packet was eye opening in terms of the background workings of the proclamation too.
ReplyDeleteWhen originally learning about the Emancipation proclamation, I thought that Lincoln's actions were all based on political moves in order to help the Union in war. The packet stated, "Already Northern Democrats were upset with Lincoln's harsh war measures...but Negro emancipation was more than they could stand and they stumped the Northern states that fall, beating the drums of Negrophobia. Northern voters dealt the Republicans a smashing blow, as the North"s five most populous states...now returned Democratic majorities." After reading this packet I was surprised to see how much a detrimental affect the proclamation had on politics for the North, specifically the Republican party. I thought Lincoln would have chosen what was best for his political party and campaign but the fact he went completely against it was surprising. Also, I suspected a more positive reaction to the proclamation in the north. I thought most people were going to be pleased with the actions and give them the reason of equality to keep fighting in the war. I expected still racism in the North but was shocked by the large majority of people who were against freeing the slaves. If these people agreed with wanting to preserve the Union, I thought most people liked the Emancipation Proclamation because to finally restore peace, freedom for the slaves was necessary.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the article on the Emancipation Proclamation, I realized how many different times the issue came about and how many times Lincoln felt ending slavery really was not going to be possible without crippling the existing Union. I also did not know that throughout the process of creating the Emancipation, a lot of times other members of congress were the ones to create or help with the basic idea of how Lincoln could go about freeing the slaves. However, with the final attempt, Lincoln was the one who originally thought of the idea and it was just approved by the other members of congress. What I also did not realize was that through the steps of creating a successful way to end slavery, the slave states not in rebellion really were able to go against whatever Lincoln said about getting rid of slaves because they knew he would rather keep them in the union then actually get rid of slaves.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this article I realized how strategic the Emancipation Proclamation truly was. Before, when I heard about this proclamation, I always thought it was about the North finally getting sick of the South’s pro-slavery agenda. I thought that when the North finally decided slavery was morally wrong and did something to change it, that this document was the result. However, this article makes it clear that the moral dilemma of the North was only a very small part of the equation. In the first part of the article it seems as if the proclamation was derived for solely political, not social purposes. As the article went on, it appeared as if Lincoln believed in the cause more and more. It was almost as if the idea of the proclamation came first, and Lincoln’s beliefs followed after much convincing from his advisors. The Emancipation Proclamation is something that seems like such an admirably moral statement by the North to abolish slavery. However, it was an extremely strategic move that became about morality only after it had been in existence for many months.
ReplyDeleteMy understanding of the Emancipation Proclamation has deepened as I better understand the detail and planning that went into it. Before, I was aware that it may give the Union an edge in the war, without knowing all of the reasons why. Although the original plan was just to continue slave containment, pressures caused Lincoln to start wavering in his opinion. I found out that he only issued the proclamation after many other failed attempts to stick close to plan to just save the Union. He even gave the Confederacy a warning about what he was going to do. The proclamation did not just finally allow America to fulfill the ideal of equality, but also freed people who had been enslaved their whole lives. It also would keep Britain away from the civil war, and keep the Northern Democrats and the border states on the same side as the Union all while hurting the Confederacy. Also, I find it important that it removed the cause of the war, as without it, another war could be easily started in the future even if this one was resolved. The reasoning that backed up the Emancipation Proclamation in the article helped improve my understanding of the motivations and reasons behind the proclamation, as it is not only to abolish slavery because of the moral implication, but in addition accomplishes many more important things.
ReplyDeleteI did not understand the extensive planning that went into the Emancipation Proclamation by President Lincoln before I read this article. Oakes exposed Lincoln's cleverness when creating the proclamation, along with the endless barriers he faced surrounding how the EP would be viewed by the rest of his dying country. I also did not understand how passionate Lincoln felt about the proclamation and how committed he was toward enacting it. Oakes' article helped me understand how many components went into EP and how much Lincoln had to consider when writing it, such as both the North and South's reactions as well as his fellow government officials. I originally thought that the EP was Lincoln's attempt to prove to the South that he still had power over them and that slavery was going to come to an end whether they liked it or not. I thought that the adversity during the civil war caused Lincoln to feel that as President he needed to make some sort of large step. Though Oakes explains how the EP was originally one of Lincoln's last resorts, as he put more thought into it his passion for the cause greatly increased. After reading Oakes' article, I now understand that the whole Proclamation was actually Lincoln's thought-out plan to reunite the United States through cleverness and faith in his nation.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading Oates’ article on the Emancipation Proclamation, I better understand how Lincoln’s methods of addressing slavery during civil war changed. In the beginning of the war, he said that his party and his objective of the war was strictly to save the Union, not to abolish slavery. Lincoln’s goal was to, “restore the national authority in the South with slavery intact.” However, as the war continued, the problems and pressures of the civil war caused him to change his objectives, and Lincoln made emancipation a Union war goal. Lincoln’s focus on emancipation intensified over time, and he made it clear that emancipation was the main objective of the war. This change can also be seen in Lincoln’s public speeches. During the beginning of the war, he was clear that emancipation wasn’t the aim of the war, but saving the union. However, by his second term when he gave his inaugural address, Lincoln made slavery the main focus of the war cause. This change in how Lincoln addressed slavery as an issue over the course of the war was evident in Oates’ article.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading Oates’ article on the Emancipation Proclamation, it was easier for me to understand the reason why Lincoln changed the purpose or motive of the civil war. Originally, I knew that abolishing slavery was an important issue that the United States needed to address. However, I was confused as to why Lincoln would issue the Emancipation Proclamation because I thought his main concern was uniting the states. In the article, Oates shows that resolving the slavery issue would actually help bring together the states. He wrote, “If he (Lincoln) emancipated the slaves, it would maim and cripple the Confederacy and hasten an end to the rebellion”(Oates). The only way to resolve the war and help America move on was by solving the slavery issue first. Oates’ article proves that the Emancipation Proclamation was not only beneficial to the abolitionists but also to keeping the United States together and eventually ending the civil war.
ReplyDeleteOates' article has increased my overall understanding of the Emancipation Proclamation immensely. Prior to reading the article, I merely understood the basic ideas and motives behind the Proclamation. I knew Lincoln's motives and goals, but this article deepened my understanding of the incredible pressure Lincoln was under from his outside contemporaries. Several members of the Republican party, such as Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts, put a lot of pressure on Lincoln to free the slaves. Lincoln, however, had a very hands off philosophy when it came to slavery, and was very hesitant to issue the proclamation. He was fearful of losing the border states, and had to go through thorough planning to make the Proclamation work. Before reading this article, I thought Lincoln was responsible for the majority of the work behind the proclamation, but in reality Sumner led the way. He convinced Lincoln that this would benefit the Union not only by morally strengthening it, but also create allies with European countries. This article presented a behind the scenes look to the Emancipation Proclamation, highlighting aspects that are less known to society.
ReplyDeleteOates' article about the Emancipation Proclamation increased my understanding of what the proclamation actually did. Previously, I had thought that the proclamation just freed all of the slaves in the Union and the Confederacy and that it was the event that completely got rid of slavery once and for all. After reading the article, I learned that the proclamation did not really have that much of a direct effect on slavery; it only affected the states in rebellion, where the Union did not have power or jurisdiction in the first place. This made me realize that the proclamation was not really the deciding factor that ended slavery, it was little more than propaganda. Before reading the article, I also thought that the Emancipation Proclamation was issued mainly for the purpose of freeing the slaves, but now I understand that it was more of a political move. The proclamation was mainly issued in order to help the Union win the war by giving the troops morale, bringing in more recruits, and preventing Britain from supporting the Confederacy. Also, since it could not actually be enforced in the rebelling states, since the Union had no control in them, the proclamation did not actually make much direct progress towards ending slavery, so most of the actual emancipation occurred after the war ended. Reading the article completely changed my understanding of the Emancipation Proclamation; instead of being the powerful proclamation that was responsible for ending slavery as I thought previously, it was just a strategic piece of political propaganda that acted as a catalyst in the process.
ReplyDeletePrevious to reading Oates' article on the Emancipation Proclamation, I thought that Lincoln issued it primarily to get the border states on his side, aside from the obvious moral reason. I never realized the long-term impacts of issuing the proclamation. In Oate’s article, he said, “Should the South return to the Union with slavery intact, as Lincoln desired, Southerners would just start another war over slavery, whenever they thought it threatened again.” Even if the Union was restored, the slavery issue was never going to be resolved with peace. It was better to resolve it with the Civil War while it was already an issue on the forefront of people's minds then to push it aside any longer. This would have led to yet another war.
ReplyDeleteBefore reading the article, I had believed that the Emancipation Proclamation's sole purpose was to free the slaves. The article shed light on who the Proclamation targeted and how it evidently did not result in much change. I learned how Lincoln used the Proclamation as a tool to boost his chances for the upcoming election by proving the Republicans and Abolitionists that he was following through with the ideals of the two groups. It also became clear how the South became villains in the eyes of foreign powers because of the refusal to abolish slavery. Another political motive that was apparent was to try to get the boarder states on the side of the Union. The Emancipation Proclamation did not target the boarder states because they wanted to ensure that they would want to remain a part of the Union. Lastly, I discovered how the Proclamation gave morale to the Union soldiers. I had previously thought that the war was solely about slavery and the soldiers were constantly motivated. This article showed how this act generated morale within the Union soldiers.
ReplyDeleteBefore reading the article I just thought that the emancipation proclamation was an easy decision that came after an easy win. However, this is not true. I did not know that Lincoln before the proclamation was trying a hands off policy. He was trying to get states to voluntarily adopt emancipation laws. But this did not work. I also did not know so many border states still had slaves. In addition, I learned that the emancipation was the result of a a lot of political pressure. Lincoln was being sequestered by sumner and other abolitionist senators. He also had pressure on the other side from the democrats. The Democrats were against the emancipation because of racist fears that black people would migrate north after the war.
ReplyDelete