The Civil War FREEDOM

I. “Forever Free” The Civil War began as a war to restore the Union, not to end slavery.

B. President Lincoln said this: “If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it; and if I could do it by freeing some of the slaves and leaving others alone, I would also do that.”

C. Addressing the Issue of Slavery By mid-1862, Lincoln wanted to broaden the goals of the war, and he decided to free slaves living in the Confederacy. In the four loyal border states, slaves would not be free.

3. In Confederate territory already captured by the Union, like New Orleans, slaves would not be free. 4. Lincoln wanted to weaken the Confederacy without angering slave owners in the North.

5. Lincoln waited for a Union victory to announce his plan, and Antietam gave Lincoln his chance.

D. Issuing the Proclamation 1. January 1, 1863, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. (Emancipate means to set free.)

2. “On the 1st day of January, in the year of our Lord 1863, all persons held as slaves within any state or…part of a state [whose] people…shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be, thenceforward, and forever free.”

3. This never freed a slave on January 1, 1863, but it did change the character of the war. Now fighting to end slavery. Keep Britain from supporting the South. c. Union gets a wave of support from free African Americans.

II. African-Americans Take Up Arms A. In 1862, Congress repealed a law forbidding African-Americans to serve as soldiers. 1. Free blacks, and escaped slaves, join the Union army. B. Black volunteers joined all black units and were commanded by white officers. Earned half the pay of white soldiers. 200,000 African-Americans fought, 3,000 died.

C. Massachusetts was one of the first states to organize all black regiments. 1. The 54th Massachusetts attacked Fort Wagner near Charleston, and fought the Confederates in hand to hand combat. Half the regiment was killed in the assault.

2. Secretary of War Stanton said: African Americans “have proved themselves among the bravest of the brave, performing deeds of daring and shedding their blood with a heroism unsurpassed by soldiers of any race.”

III. African Americans Behind Confederate Lines A. Despite the Proclamation, slaves still had to work on plantations while whites were away fighting. But many slaves slowed down their work in the fields. This was one way to undermine the South’s war efforts. They knew when Union troops arrived in their area, they would be free.