Emancipation Proclamation

The emancipation proclamation was nothing more than an illegal act against the Confederate States only, it was a direct violation of the 13th Amendment of The Constitution. Read Lincoln's own words, he did not care about slaves. He would have continued with slavery if it would have kept the union together.

President Lincoln thought emancipation was justified as a military necessity to preserve the Union. "If the Proclamation of Emancipation was essentially a war measure, it had the desired effect of depriving the Confederacy of much of its valuable laboring force. It simultaneously succeeded in rallying thousands of English and European laborers to the cause of the Union or North, who were anxious to see workers gain their freedom throughout the world.

Abraham Lincoln wrote and issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which consisted of 2 executive orders; which were issued in 2 parts. The initial order was issued on September 22, 1862, and the final order was issued, and went into effect on January 1, 1863. Prior to the initial order issued on September 22, 1862, Lincoln discussed the Proclamation with his cabinet in July of 1862. He had not set an effective date for the initial order but he wanted to issue it, once the Union had achieved another battlefield victory. If issued immediately after a Union victory had occurred, he thought the order would be clear, strong, and carry more force in intent.

After the Union had won the Battle of Antietam, in Maryland on September 17, 1862, the first or initial order of the Proclamation was issued on September 22, 1862, which stated that all slaves were declared free in any state of the Confederate States of America that did not return to Union control by January 1, 1863. (those Confederate States, if and which, did return, or ended their secession attempt before January 1, 1863, could have kept slavery, at least temporarily.)

The second order or final order of the Proclamation was issued and went into effect on January 1, 1863. It stated: all slaves would be permanently freed in all areas of the Confederacy that had not already returned to federal control by January 1863.

The first answer to my edit is based on sound reasoning. This edit will supplement what has already been written.

The Emancipation Proclamation by President Lincoln was a strategic move to serve the his main purpose for fighting the Civil War. Lincoln always believed that the Federal Government had no right, under the US Constitution to outlaw slavery. He tried to assure the South before he took office that he had no intention to abolish slavery where it already existed. As history has shown us, this made no impact on the leaders of the South. They were concerned about Lincoln's motives and they were concerned that the Southern "slave" States would eventually be a huge minority of States that had legal slaves.

To fully gauge the impact, the later results, and reasons for the Emancipation Proclamation the following information is important:

A. In 1865 Lincoln ratified the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution which outlawed slavery;

B. Many freed slaves and the peoples of Afro-American society would continue to experience limited freedoms & prejudice. Many of these issues took almost 100 years to be resolved;

C. Based on Lincoln's earlier stated ideas regarding slavery, the emancipation of slaves was not the first reason that Lincoln engaged the Union in the Civil War. In fact, he even saw it as a potential threat to the goal of keeping the Union unified. (note. as an aside, the concept of manifest destiny, already in the minds of many leaders, would be thwarted by the secession. )

D. In truth, Lincoln was a pragmatist and a man of moderation. No one, who could see that over 600,000 men would be killed, that the War would take over 4 years to settle, added to the massive destruction, and bitter ed divisiveness over decades, could have wanted such a war. Somehow, someway, the slavery issue would have had to be solved without the costs of this Civil War.

E. To the horror of the Abolitionists, it would become clear that abolishing slavery was not why the Union could field large armies of young men whose call to duty was to save the Union. Most Northerners were against slavery. There is no doubt about that, however they were not going to war, a war that would destroy so many families, to end slavery.

F. Lincoln believed that turning the war into an abolitionist crusade, might result in North en Democrats & border State Unionists to withdraw their support.

G. And, once again, Lincoln did not believe he had any authority to free anyone's "slaves". He even hoped that if the South thought that a compromise of sorts could be worked out, the South would return to the Union. Lincoln ignored critics would found it absurd that the South would give in if the North had the possibility of making the reunified Union, slave free. The critics would have to ignore the fact that prior to and during the upcoming war, the Federal Capital itself had legal slavery.

H. During the early stages of the War, Union generals wielded their military powers to undermine slavery. Lincoln reversed their actions of freeing slaves in some Territories, and even removed these generals.

I. The War began in April 1861, and the fighting continued with both sides losing men. With the power and huge military advantages of the Union, this was not expected in most quarters of the North. Lincoln saw the problems a longer than expected war would bring.

J. In defiance of his own ideas, the pragmatic side of Lincoln knew he needed another reason to continue the war. He hoped that adding a popular, moral attachment to the war might prove to be a favorable tactic. His hope was that an emancipation would encourage a deeper commitment to victory and he had nothing to lose except his own integrity. He could place that aside if emancipation could help end the War ( it didn't in real terms and the idea that the despotic and quasi democratic Europeans would side with the United States & not recognize the Confederacy was a "hope". (More on this later. )

K. Lincoln also hoped that emancipation would generate international support and deny the Confederacy of possible European allies. It was reasoned that no external power would want to be allied with a nation fighting for Slavery. Freeing the slaves would hurt the Southern economy and thus weaken its military strength. Also, Lincoln saw a new source of manpower, the freed slaves, joining the military.

L. The War dragged on and as the Summer of 1862 was upon the nation, Lincoln decided to issue the emancipation as an act of justice and a military edict to help end the War. As now the pragmatic politician, the timing of such an announcement was of most importance At all costs the emancipation could not appear as a desperate measure. It might have, as the Union had suffered a number of defeats against a "put together at the last moment army of the South".

He announced it to his cabinet in July, 1862. Luckily when the horrible battle of Antietam was over in September & the South withdrew from Maryland, this was the chance as Lee's retreat, if you will, could be seen as a Northern victory. In military terms it was a tactical draw. When an attacking army loses less men than the defenders, it's the reverse of a natural battle.

If it was a Union victory, & McClellan was praised for pressing the attack on Lee's army, which McClellan did, it did not save his job. George B. McClellan lost his job as leader of the Army of the Potomac on November 3, 1862.

M. Antietam is said by some historians as the end of the Confederacy's bid for recognition from Europe. In my view, European governments had no intention of recognizing the Confederacy. They had little to gain. Many astute European statesman and military men saw the potential of the United States. Many saw it as a rival "power to be". However, it was not lost on them that a successful

new group of "Americans" could result in "two new powers to be".

The Europeans had outlawed slavery long before the US Civil War. That's true enough, but they did not outlaw enslaving entire populations in their colonial empires. France "engineered" the construction of The Suez Canal as example with the use of "forced labor" in 1869. At any given point in time, 30,000 laborers by force were involved in the construction. Thousands of them died.

Most political scientists mark 1928 as the year Great Britain attained the same civil rights status as the United States.

N. On September 22, 1862, Lincoln issued his preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. He took great care to make it clear that it was an executive order allowed to him as the Commander in Chief under the Constitution. Because of that, the proclamation allowed for the liberation of slaves only in areas that were in rebellion and thus under martial law. Bottom line was that slaves were liberated in areas where the Federal Government had no power.

Lee's retreat out of Maryland ( a Union slave State ) prompted Lincoln to call for the surrender of the Confederacy and for its States to rejoin the Union by December 31, 1862. If that didn't happen then their slaves would be declared free men. Based on the example of Maryland, it needs to be again said that Lincoln, personally against slavery, was not as President implacable opposed to slavery; his avowed purpose was always to preserve the Union no matter it took to do so. So whether by preserving slavery, destroying it, or by keeping it in some States and not in others, the Union had to be preserved.

O. Lincoln's Final Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863 specifically listed those areas where slaves were to be free. Slave owners who were loyal to the Union were exempt and allowed to keep their slaves. Based on the 1860 census, this meant that over 800,000 slaves or 21% of slaveswere to remain in bondage. The "keep Europe out " plan was ridiculous in that the Union could have slaves but the areas not within Union control were not.

P. The Proclamation was almost as controversial as the suspension of US Civil Rights. It caused political disputes in the North and among the rank and file of the US Army. It was early on that Lincoln in the interest of national security had suspended civil liberties in the Union. The suspension of habeas corpus resulted in the summary arrests which imprisoned thousands of Federal citizens.

Some were forced to take loyalty oaths and simple economic rights were also suspended. Some of the Federal "activities" were issues not settled until after the War.

In tact below is the initial answer which has enough good information worth keeping.

He wanted to take control of the rebellion and after the battle of Antietam, where the north won, he thought it was a good move to get re-elected. Also, by making that proclamation he made the war about slavery first and foremost. This ensured that Britain and France would not enter the war and aid the South....the people of Britain and France could not support a cause that supported slavery.
To turn it into a war on slavery.

He was hoping this would raise Northern morale (which it didn't) and keep the British from helping the Confederates (which it did). <--- Little unjustifed, because of the rebelling slaves in the States that Lincoln had put in both the preliminary document of the Proclamation followed by the actual one.

Lincoln wanted to STOP the Civil War, therefore stop the Northern States and Southern states fighting. He didn't want a war against slavery, he wanted it abolished. When Lincoln signed the paper, he stated, "If my name ever goes into history, it will be because of this act." His act meant that the rebellion would stop and war would end.

But this Proclamation resulted in his assassination. Therefore, John Wilkes Booth shooting him at that play he attended.

I see for that the Emancipation Proclamation, was a good delcaration. If you think about it, Abraham Lincoln's legacy is because he did something, that no one at that time would believe possible.

He is one of the greatest Presidents of the United States of America. Not all he did was bad, more so heroic.