Question

APUSH help! ------>Abraham Lincoln stated in 1858, "I am not nor ever have been in favor of bringing about in anyway the social and political equality of the white and black races."

Explain why Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation in 1862.

Answer 1

@wwhitlock

Answer 2

Is this an essay?

Answer 3

It is for a long essay. I just need help with some ideas =)

Answer 4

Well, he created the Emancipation Proclamation because he didn't believe in slavery, in his mind, he knew it wouldn't go very far, and in his time it didn't. It wasn't until MUCH later that they looked back on it.

Answer 5

Any other ideas? @jailbird It's for a long essay so I need at least 3 topics =). If not that is okay! At least I have somewhere to start.

Answer 6

Lincoln was harshley criticized especially by the South for writing something like this.

Answer 7

Sorry buddy, still trying to think of another, I don't know much on this topic but I do remember doing it :/

Answer 8

Ideas on the Emancipation Proclamation. Not necessarily in any order.

Lincoln opposed slavery before his election to the presidency. In fact that's the reason southern states attempted to leave the Union, they were sure Lincoln would abolish slavery.

The quote in you post comes from the Lincoln/Douglas debates. Douglas had been a Senator for Illinois for two terms. Lincoln was challenging him.

During those debates Lincoln's abolitionist feelings became well known. So cherry picking a quote from one of the six debates could be seen as disingenuous. An honest historian will want to put it in context.

Yes he said the sentence among a great many more. Lincoln became known as an anti-slavery candidate.

Like any reasonable person, Lincoln's views on issues changed over time. Tracing the evolution of Lincoln's opinions about slavery and race is probably outside the scope of your essay. Lincoln opposed the idea of slavery but couldn't imagine how blacks and whites could live together. He considered helping freed men return to Africa and other solutions.

When he became President, the country was well on it's way to being split apart.
James Buchanan earns title of worst US president for doing absolutely nothing about southern states seceding in the 4 months before Lincoln's inauguration.

Lincoln's first and overall goal was to keep the country together. Slavery was an important issue but it didn't really matter if the country fell apart.

Lincoln never felt he had the right to free slaves as President. His reading of the Constitution made it an issue for the states to decide individually. That's why the EP only applied to areas in rebellion. The border states were not affected.

As the war progressed, Lincoln saw an opportunity and advantages to freeing slaves. The opportunity was that since Confederate states had stopped functioning as states and fell under Federal control. That gave him the Constitutional authority.
Also, freed slaves would be an economic and military disadvantage to the South.

The EP was and executive order and could have been issued at any time. The problem was the string of defeats that Union was suffering. England and France were considering recognizing the CSA as a legit country. The success at Antietam was the turning point. Lincoln announced the EP after the Sept battle and it took effect Jan 1 of the next year.

Answer 9

No problem! @wwhitlock seems like he has a lot of information due to how long it is taking him to reply =) I

Answer 10

Sorry for the long wait. I hope my answer was worth it.

Answer 11

WOW! that's pretty awesome

Answer 12

Full disclosure: I'm a History teacher. Glad to help when I have some time.

Answer 13

WOW! I think I could write a 15 page essay with that information!

Answer 14

Thank you very much @wwhitlock You truly are helpful!

Answer 15

Organize it into your own paper and get some sources to cite.

I'm glad I could help.