Abraham Lincoln free's the slaves
Abraham Lincoln had always been against slavery, and it was time for him to change the world, for the better.
On March 3rd, 1837 Abraham Lincoln, who was only 28 at the time made his first publiic statement against slavery. One of Abe's representatives stated, "Resolutions upon the subject of domestic slavery having passed both branches of the General Assembly at its present session, the undersigned hereby protest against the passage of the same. They believe that the institution of slavery is founded on both injustice and bad policy; but that the promulgation of abolition doctrines tends rather to increase than to abate its evils." to the House of Representatives. Lincoln would enjoy hearing people support the act of slavery, just so he could counter argue with the person. He would say that others justified slavery based on color and intellect: "You say A. is white, and B. is black. It is color, then; the lighter, having the right to enslave the darker? Take care. By this rule, you are to be slave to the first man you meet, with a fairer skin than your own. You do not mean color exactly?--You mean the whites are intellectually the superiors of the blacks, and, therefore have the right to enslave them? Take care again. By this rule, you are to be slave to the first man you meet, with an intellect superior to your own. But, say you, it is a question of interest; and, if you can make it your interest, you have the right to enslave another. Very well. And if he can make it his interest, he has the right to enslave you." Long before Lincoln had the idea of banning slavery, slavery was everywhere throughout the 13 colonies (6-20;Kresnsky). During slavery, most slaves would head to the flee to the North to have a smaller chance of becoming a slave. All of that changed when Abraham Lincoln took oath to the office. When he took oath to the office his goal was to abolish slavery completey. He did not want the nation to be half free and half slave saying, "It would have to become all one or the other." (50; Howard Egger-Bovet) It wasn't easy an easy road to freedom though. When Abraham Lincoln ran for office in 1860, it was hard getting votes because of the Southners feeling uneasy since Lincoln was a Northern president that wanted to stop their source of profit, (50; Howard Egger-Bovet). Lincoln's rival was Stephen A. Douglas, a man that was the complete opposite from Abraham Lincoln. Douglas supported slavery and ran against Lincoln during the 1800's. Lincoln was a republican while Douglas was a Democrat, (50; Kresnsky), Surprisingly, Lincoln won and the road to victory was coming to a start. When Abraham Lincoln took oath to the office he started to work on freeing the slaves. He started writing a document in the June of 1862, (10; Prentzas) that held the laws that was going to end slavery, this document was later called the Emancipation Proclamation. Lincoln took many hours and thought while working on the Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln's primary concerns were to end war against the North and the South and abolish slavery completely in the nation, (35-36; Krensky). As he was writing the Proclamation, money increased because of the amount of money that was needed into freeing the slaves, on top of the war debt they had. So, Abe waited the perfect time to make his goal a reality, (39-41; Krensky). He showed the few bits and pieces of the Proclamation to the vice president, Hannibal Hamlin, which with a little bit of his help, made small suggestions to the document, which Lincoln agreed too. Also while working on the document, he showed the President's Cabinet, which was seven secretaries of the executive branch, on July 22nd, and together, they were working on fixing the Emancipation Proclamation. Although he was still working on the whole document, he signed and released the Preliminary Emancipaction which was a small part of the Emancipation Proclamation, (18-28; Prentaz). He signed the document on September 22, 1862 which freed the runaway, abandoned, and captured slaves. Many Aboltionists in the North celebrated the Preliminary Emancipation which was a step closer to freedom, while in the South, people set up laws to prevent slaves from fleeing and rebelling against their owners, (26-29; Prentaz). Meanwhile in England, it was a mixed reaction since England abolished slavery (1833), but they supply the South raw materials during the war. When the Preliminary Proclamation was released many voters were upset about the republican party because of the heavy taxes in war debts and how they were doing in war. A total of 34 representatives left the House of Representatives at the time, many democrats hoped that Lincoln would change his mind about slavery, but with Lincoln's preserverance and hope, he didn't change his mind even for a second, (29-33; Prentaz). The Emancipation Proclamation was a work in progress. Lincoln spent many hours and thought into freeing the slaves. Aboltionists, people who were against slavery, were supporting Lincoln in writing the Proclamation. The Proclamation didn't show how Lincoln felt about slavery, it contained the laws that freed slaves and the rights that the people, including the slaves, had. After many battles and hardships in freeing the slaves, on New Year's Day January 1, 1865 President finally signed the Emancipation Proclamation saying, "I never in my life, felt more certain that I was doing right than I do in signing this paper." The Emancipation Proclamation was now official. Slaves were free to leave the South but they waited for the Union to set them free, (35-44; Prentaz). Though, the Proclamation wasn't complete. It did not abolish slavery completely. So, Congress started wotking on the 13th amendment to secure that slavery was abolished completely. During that time, the South started to weaken in war, they didn't provide supplies fast enough and they had a huge war debt. Meanwhile the North was recruiting slaves that volunteered to fight in the Union against the South, leading the North to victory with the upper hand in war, (50-51 Krensky; 47-49; Prentaz). Then the Civil War endned on April 9, 1865. As for the 13th amendment, it was approved by Congress on December 6, 1865. The 13th Amendment stated that "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."(loc.gov.). Sadly, Lincoln wasn't able to witness his hard work because he was assasinated while watching a play in a nearby theatre. December 6, 1865 was the day that slavery was now illegal in the United States. (49-51; Prentaz). The Emancipation Proclamation is a reminder that we are all equal and all deserve a fair chance for everything. Abraham Lincoln's hard work and legacy has shown throughout the years even after his death. The Preliminary Proclamation and the Emancipation Proclamation showed that Lincoln wanted to have an equal society where no one's rights are abused. His legacy and leadership is still shown as the 16th president who abolished slavery to the man on the penny. Lincoln has worked hard from spending hours working on freedom to leading the North to it's victory. |