Chapter 16, section 3 A Call for Freedom

Emancipation Although Lincoln considered slavery immoral, he hesitated to move against it because of the border states. His personal wish was that “all men everywhere could be free.” In the North’s view, anything that weakened slavery struck a blow against the Confederacy.

The Emancipation Proclamation Lincoln knew that slavery helped the South continue fighting. He felt it was important for the president to take action against slavery. On January 1, 1863, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing all slaves in the Confederacy.

Effects of the Proclamation Britain had taken a strong position against slavery. When Lincoln freed the slaves, Britain and France refused to recognize the Confederacy any longer. In 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment was passed, which truly freed all enslaved people in the United States.

In the South In the Confederacy, African Americans had served as plantation laborers, iron, salt and lead miners, nurses and cooks. By the end of the war, one-sixth of the enslaved population fled to areas controlled by Union armies. Most Southerners refused to give African Americans weapons. The Confederate Congress passed a law in 1865 that granted freedom to any African American who fought, but the war ended before any regiments could be organized.

Helping the North The army would not accept African Americans, but the Union navy did. Some women, such as Harriet Tubman, served as spies behind Confederate lines. In 1862, Congress passed a law allowing African Americans to serve in the Union army. By the end of the war, African Americans made up about 10 percent of the army and eighteen percent of the navy.

African American Soldiers African Americans were organized into regiments, mostly led by white men. The 54 th Massachusetts Regiment, led by white abolitionists, was one of the most famous. General Grant wrote to Lincoln, “taking them from the enemy weakens him in the same proportion they strengthen us.” Some African American soldiers were executed when captured by white Southerners.