Purpose and Effects of the Emancipation Proclamation

Summary of the Emancipation Proclamation:

The proclamation was issued by U.S. President on September 22, 1862, and January 1, 1863. The declaration highlighted freedom of all slaves within any state that did not submit to Union control and specified the states where the proclamation was to be unconditionally applied. The Proclamation included clauses that addressed rebellion and its elimination. This was done by announcing that if any person incited rebellion against authority of the states he would be imprisoned for ten years and be liable to pay a fine of ten thousand dollars. However, if the person liberated his slaves, the court would consider 'pardon' and erasure of both punishments.

Purpose of the Declaration:

The main purpose of the proclamation was to restore peace and Union control amidst the civil war. The Emancipation Proclamation granted freedom to thousands of slaves and was interpreted as a commitment to the cause. Till the Emancipation Proclamation, the Confederacy had used the slaves to cater to war time effort. They formed the spine of the Confederacy by handling root requirements like uniforms, catering, utility repairs, farm and factory work and common labor. The declaration reversed the strength on the two warring sides and defined the outcome of the struggle.

Effects of the Proclamation:

The controversial decision issued by executive order did not free slaves of the border states. In West Virginia, only the slaves in Jefferson County were freed. In the case of Union-occupied CSA states, other than slaves were freed immediately. Slaves in the eastern North Carolina, Mississippi Valley, northern Alabama, Shenandoah Valley, Arkansas, and benefited from the declaration and the subsequent allotment of land to the newly freed slaves. In 1862, the Congress declaration highlighted compensation to slave owners who 'released' their slaves from the bondage. This led to a number of slave owners grabbing the opportunity and freeing the slaves in a number of United States territories. The Emancipation Proclamation took complete effect as Union armies took over confederacies. With the proclamation allowing slaves to enroll for service within the United States military, more than 200,000 ex-slaves joined the army. This added to the much needed manpower for winning the war against the Confederacy.

Emancipation Proclamation Facts:

• Although certain Union-occupied regions of were exempted, Shenandoah Valley and the Alexandria sub-terrain were not.
• Slaves escaped to Union lines and moved South, with the addition of more salves each day, till the figure crossed 4 million, by July 1865.
• The Proclamation was contested as a war measure and not recognized as a permanent end to slavery in America.
• Those states that defied the legislation prohibiting slavery had to submit on the ratification of an amendment to the on December 18, 1865.
• Abolitionists organized a mass rally in the, in 1862, demanding for universal slave emancipation. However, Lincoln declared that his constitutional authority was limited and that slave emancipation was a political risk.
• The emancipation of slaves was a peaceful affair that triggered winds of change in the reunion effort in the northern states.
• The Proclamation earned the Union foreign opinion in favor of the commitment.
• Lincoln is credited with easing tensions within a society in deep