Emancipation Proclamation

Emancipation Proclamation

​What have you heard about the Emancipation Proclamation?

Antietam & the Emancipation Proclamation

• Lincoln needed a Union victory so that he could issue the Emancipation Proclamation

• A victory was necessary to make sure the Emancipation Proclamation hit on a high note, and not seem like an act of desperation

Multiple Choice

Did the Union win the battle of Antietam and get the victory Lincoln desperately wanted?

• yes

• no

Slavery & the Civil War

The south seceded because they believed that Lincoln would abolish slavery. In this Inaugural Address Lincoln said that he had no intention to abolish slavery. But after a year of battles, Lincoln knew there was nothing he could say to encourage the confederates to come back. They would only return through force.

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Some abolitionists pushed Lincoln to abolish slavery during the war, to make the war not only about reuniting the country but also about abolishing slavery. Would Lincoln do it?

Multiple Choice

What was Lincoln's opinion about abolishing slavery?

• He wanted to abolish slavery because it was the right thing to do

• He didn't want to abolish slavery during the war

• He would abolish slavery only if it would help the union to win the war

Lincoln's Goals & Slavery

• The Union's goal in the Civil War was to reunite the country  

• While Lincoln was opposed to slavery, ending it was not his top priority

The Emancipation Proclamation

• Lincoln passed the Emancipation Proclamation in Jan. of 1863 as a strategy to help the Union win the war 

• Lincoln believed that he could hurt the Confederate army by taking their enslaved labor force and recruiting them to help the Union win the war. By making the war about abolishing slavery, more African American troops would likely join the Union to fight.

Multiple Choice

What was the purpose of the Emancipation Proclamation?

• To support the abolitionist movement

• To help the Union win the war

• To get European allies for the Union

Emancipation Proclamation

• The Emancipation Proclamation only freed slaves in areas in rebellion.

• It did NOT free slaves in the border states or any other area already under Union control

• Lincoln didn't want to lose support from the slave-owning areas that were on the Union side

Multiple Choice

The Emancipation Proclamation freed enslaved people in which location? (use the map to answer)

• Union states

• Border states

• Confederate areas under Union control

• Confederate states

Multiple Choice

Why didn't Lincoln want to free slaves in the border states?

• He didn't want to lose their support in the war

• He didn't think he had the legal right to end slavery in those states

• Those states were not in the Union

How did the Emancipation Proclamation free slaves in the Confederacy if they were already in rebellion?

The Confederate states were fighting a war against the Union to preserve slavery so they definitely wouldn't listen to this proclamation and free their slaves. However, as the Union invaded southern states they would spread the word of the proclamation to enslaved people, and offer them freedom if they joined the Union troops. They encouraged them to support the Union (fighting, cooking, etc.)

About 20,000 enslaved people were freed as a result of the Emancipation Proclamation.

There were about 4 million enslaved people in America at that time

How could the Emancipation Proclamation help the Union win? 

Making the war about ending slavery would help the Union to recruit escaped slaves to fight for them. This would also hurt the south because slave laborers were used to grow crops and make supplies for their army

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnlw_owWpPs

REVIEW QUESTIONS

Multiple Choice

What was the overall purpose for the Emancipation Proclamation?

• To end slavery in the country

• To get more states to join the Union

• To gain allies

• To help the Union win the war

Multiple Choice

What was the main goal of the Emancipation Proclamation?

• To recruit escaped slaves to fight for the Union

• To end slavery in the entire country

• To gain European allies who wanted the war to be about ending slavery

• To cause slave revolts in the south

Multiple Choice

Which of the following is true of the Emancipation Proclamation?

• It freed all enslaved people in the entire United States

• It freed some enslaved people in the north

• It freed some enslaved people in areas that were still in rebellion

• It did not lead to the freeing of any slaves