Lincoln, Race, and the Civil War Flashcards
Lincoln’s Early Views on Race & Slavery
-Mild form of antislavery beliefs
-Rejected radical abolition & the idea of a biracial equality
-Favored gradual emancipation and compensation for slave owners
-Wanted to halt the extension of slavery in the western territories
-Supported colonization: sending African Americans to Africa, Caribbean, or South America
Abraham Lincoln
16th president of the United States
He issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, which freed slaves in Confederate territories.
He worked to preserve the Union during the Civil War and helped pass the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery in the U.S.
Did the South have the right to secede?
-Lincoln’s view (pro-Union): the United States was created by the People, not the States. Therefore, the states had no right to secede
-Secessionist view: Constitutionally, the Union is a FEDERAL union – a contract between states. The Union is an experiment that has failed.
Pressure mounts for emancipation
-Escaped slaves join the Union forces
—Lincoln’s policy is “denial of asylum”: escaped slaves were to be returned to their owners IF their owners were in rebellion. Otherwise, they were considered “contraband” – property of war.
-Fierce criticism from abolitionists
—Frederick Douglass: Lincoln’s support of the Fugitive Slave Act was cowardly, immoral, and unwise.
—“Arrest that hoe in the hands of the negro, and you smite rebellion in the very seat of its life…The negro is the key of the situation –the pivot upon which the whole rebellion turns.” (Frederick Douglass)
Toward Emancipation
-August 1861: First Confiscation Act states that the union would not return slaves whose owners were supporting the Confederacy
-April 1862: Congress abolished slavery in Washington, DC
Provide $300 per slave in compensation and $300,000 for possible colonization of blacks.
-June 1862: Congress abolished slavery in all of the western territories
-July 1862: Second Confiscation Act frees all slaves of persons “in rebellion”
Antietam
-September 17, 1862
-Bloodiest single day of the Civil War
-Not a decisive victory on either side, but Lee’s attack on the North was halted
-Union commander George McClellan failed to attack Lee’s retreating troops
-Battle paved the way for the Emancipation Proclamation
Emancipation Proclamation
-Intention: weaken the South by attacking their most vital economic institution.
-Freed enslaved people only in rebellious states; NOT in the border states of DL, MD, KY and MO.
-The U.S. government would not longer enforce the Fugitive Slave Law
-The President would eventually recommend that slaveholders in loyal slave states would be compensated for their slaves.
Effects of Emancipation
- Union Army was now a liberating army
- Committed the US to abolition, making it more difficult for foreign nations like Great Britain to support the South
- New of emancipation spread like wildfire among African Americans; thousands join Union troops
—By the end of the Civil War, 10% of the Union army was African American, 80% of whom were former slaves from the south. - Transformed the meaning of the Civil War: it was now a war about freedom, not a war against secession.
Lincoln & Fredrick Douglass
While Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass shared a commitment to ending slavery, they had differing views on how to achieve racial equality.
Lincoln’s Views: Initially, Lincoln’s primary focus was on preserving the Union rather than immediately abolishing slavery. He was willing to tolerate slavery in the Southern states if it meant keeping the Union together. However, as the Civil War progressed, Lincoln increasingly saw the abolition of slavery as essential for winning the war and preserving the Union. His Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 was a pivotal step in this direction. However, Lincoln believed that full racial equality should come gradually, and he often expressed doubts about the social and political integration of Black people into American society. He advocated for the idea of colonization, where freed Black people might be resettled in other countries, such as Liberia.
Douglass’s Views: As a former enslaved person and a leading abolitionist, Frederick Douglass believed that slavery should be abolished immediately and that African Americans should be granted full civil and political rights. Douglass rejected the idea of colonization, seeing it as an unjust attempt to remove Black people from their own country. He was a strong advocate for Black suffrage and equality under the law, and he pushed for equal treatment of African Americans both during and after the war. Douglass also believed that Black soldiers should be given the same rights and recognition as White soldiers, something that Lincoln had to be convinced of over time.
Battle of Gettysburg, July 1-3, 1863
The Battle of Gettysburg took place from July 1-3, 1863, in Pennsylvania, and was a major turning point in the Civil War. The Confederate Army, led by General Lee, invaded the North, but the Union Army, under General Meade, stopped them. The battle lasted three days, with the Union holding strong defensive positions, especially during the famous Pickett’s Charge on July 3, when Confederate forces were decisively defeated.
The Union’s victory at Gettysburg, along with the capture of Vicksburg around the same time, weakened the Confederacy and boosted Union morale. This battle is also remembered for Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, which highlighted the war’s goal of achieving freedom and equality for all.
