The War Of The American War

Finally, in the summer of 1862, with the realization that the war would not be won without the end of slavery, Lincoln drew up the Emancipation Proclamation (Fincher). This document freed slaves in all areas who rebelled against the Union. This began a rippling effect to many other aspects of the war and led to the enlistment of African Americans in the Union Army and Navy.

Lincoln thought freeing slaves would help him reach his goals to save the Union. Therefor, this led to the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. Although, the Emancipation Proclamation only freed slaves in the Confederate States in America, it was the first step in the final Emancipation of all slaves. It helped the cause of the Civil War, and was close to end slavery permanently. It was the third year into the Civil War, once the form was signed, the number of group soldiers for the Civil War and navy increased. This was because what Lincoln hoped would happen did happen. Although, the liberation of slaves allowed many slaves to volunteer and to fight in the Civil War. At that point the Civil War became a war for freedom. The result of the War was positive. The Union was saved but also the War helped free slaves.

However, since the confederacy was still a part of the United States Lincoln used the Emancipation Proclamation hoping that the South would end their ongoing war against the federal government. The North did not agree with the Emancipation Proclamation but still joined Lincoln because they wanted the same thing Lincoln wanted which was the south to reunite with the Union. Since the confederacy did not obey the government, Lincoln put his words into action by freeing all slaves who were in the rebellious states. Issuing this document also insured that Britain and France would not join forces with the Confederate Union especially since they were against slavery. Freeing the slaves gave the union an upper hand, because they came to the north and fought against the confederacy. It was, however, illegal to have blacks fight in the army so Lincoln fought to have them employed into the army. This gave hope to all slaves who were seeking freedom and one day becoming an American

During the Civil War President Lincoln announced freeing all enslaved people in the confederate state. As this happened about 4 million people were freed and guaranteed to be treated like whites were treated. The Emancipation Proclamation didn't free any slaves in the Union states, but it was a good step to abolish slavery. Lincoln hoped that the he could win the Union side. He also hoped it would weaken the Confederacy's effort in the war. The Proclamation announced that black men can fight as a soldier in the war. By the end of the war, almost 200,000 black soldiers and sailors had fought for the Union and freedom.

Lincoln decided to issue the Emancipation Proclamation because he needed to turn the battle into a moral issue rather than just trying to win back the states lost from the Union. It is known that the North had lost many battles and needed men to fight for the Union. So, Lincoln justified the emancipation to liberate slaves, which give them the chance to fight for the Union. This was proven to be successful, as 200,000 black men joined the Union to fight the confederacy. Moral of the Union was also low, and the Emancipation Proclamation provided the needed public support to help the Union to continue to fight the war. Also, this was done to prevent European forces from recognizing the Confederacy as its own Nation, thus preventing any possible

In the 1800s the Civil War, a war between the northern and southern states, erupted into a massive conflict after President Lincoln was elected and after eleven states seceded from the Union. Following the secession from the Union, The Ft. Sumer conflict erupted, and this four-year tragedy between the northern and southern United States began causing an innumerable amount of casualties. This immense number of casualties, reaching approximately 600,000, resulted from economic and social differences of the North and South, the Dred Scott Case, and the election of President Abraham Lincoln. These causes of the Civil War were all created on conflict rather than intervention. They led to the creation of the Confederacy, a league of confederate states that embodied various disadvantages: the creation of weapons manually, the lack of railroads, the small population, as well as various advantages: tough fighting, devastating the Union 's army and unity that brought people of the Southern states together. Alongside these advantages came devastation, when Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed slaves, and led to the Confederacy 's defeat in 1865.

Abraham Lincoln is the first Republican president that announced that he wanted to keep slavery out of the territories but he respected slavery where it had already existed. Several southern states seceded and formed the Confederate States of America. The northerners refused to acknowledge the secession because they believed it was illegal and illegitimate. Abraham Lincoln wanted to save the Union in the fastest possible way. He believed as soon as national authority was reestablished, the nation would become the Union it was once before. The main goal was to preserve the unity of the America and whether slavery is saved or destroyed depended if it helps save the Union. Even before the civil war ended, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, 1862. Emancipation was not initially a war aim but by the summer of 1862, in order to win support in Europe, the government made abolition an objective. By January of 1863, the Proclamation stated that all slaves in areas of rebellion against the United States, shall then be freed of bondage. Although this was only a start to the political and social transformation in America, it was the start of revolutionizing the social and political status of blacks. Eventually, black males were granted proper social and political rights such as the right to vote and the right to own land (Doc 1, Garraty 398-399).

The road to freedom from slavery was a hard and long for the African Americans. In the northern states the Civil War began as a fight against the succession of the Confederate states from the Union. Abraham Lincoln, who was President at this time, wanted to save the nation by bringing the southern states back to the Union, but this "Great Emancipator ironically did not have much intention of freeing the slaves. His greatest interest lies in preventing a war from occurring. However, even he could not stop the outbreak of the Civil War (Fincher).”

When the southern states had two representatives that really helped Lincoln’s chances of winning. After Lincoln’s win that was when 7 of the lower southern states decided to seceded from the north and it caused a lot of turmoil. The war began on April 12th, 1861 when Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard led a bombardment on Fort Sumter, near Charleston, South Carolina after Anderson refused to surrender Sumter. This lasted two days and ended with Anderson surrendering it to the Confederates. After this battle Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee joined the confederacy (Brinkley

In the year 1864 the American Civil War was drawing to an end. The Confederate States of America was slowly running out of able bodied men and supplies to supply the army needed to ward off the Union’s invasion of the South. At this point in time the leader of the Union Army was Ulysses S. Grant. He devised a plan to escalate the process in which the Confederate Army was running out of supplies. Grant’s plan was to send Union troops to the West of the main conflict for them to loop around and cut off railroad lines, and burn farm lands. The greatest of these was the Army that burned thousands of acres in Georgia, yet another army led by General David Hunter might have been more decisive if it had not been stopped at the Battle of Lynchburg. General David Hunter was ordered by General Grant to make his way down the Shenandoah Valley and destroy as much farm land as possible along the way. On top of this General Hunter terrorized towns by pillaging stores and homes. The Southerners knew that a similar fate would become Lynchburg if they did not do anything to prevent Hunter’s advance. The people of Lynchburg worked hard at building up defenses protecting Lynchburg. They had to resort to using mostly young boys and elderly men since most able bodies men had already died in the War or were still fighting under General E. Lee. The boys and elderly men that maned the defenses did not have a good chance of warding of the large army led by General David Hunter; as a result, General

President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1st in 1863 announcing that all people held as slaves shall be free. Lincoln hoped to inspire all blacks and slaves in the Confederacy even though the proclamation was limited in many ways. It applied only to states that had seceded from the Union, leaving slavery untouched in the loyal border states. While the freedom was promised depended upon the Union military victory. The Emancipation Proclamation did not end slavery in the nation but shaped the reasoning for war. Approximately 200,000 black soldiers and sailors had fought for freedom and the Union. This confirmed the battle a war for freedom. For all that the Emancipation Proclamation did for freedom, it is now taken place among the great documents of human freedom.

The Emancipation Proclamation made the blacks realize that the war for the Union must become

Unfortunately there was still some uneasiness about African Americans in combat. Some white soldiers did not even want to fight alongside with the African Americans against the Confederate Army. Some of the commanding officers of the Colored Troops complained about the lack of training of the African Americans. But the African Americans were eager to fight and prove themselves as worthy men who can fight for the country. Some officers were quite happy to arm African Americans. In September 1863, G.E. Hystums wrote that arming his fellow African Americans would erase ‘that semblance of inferiority of our race, which cruel slavery has created’ he also predicted ‘if there is one spark of manhood running in the blood of the Race that has resisted the… waves of oppression, the school of the soldiers will fan it to a glowing flame.’ The 52nd U.S Colored Infantry begged their lieutenant not to surrender and so they did not, and they managed to hold off the Confederates for three hours. The 1st U.S Colored Infantry performed quite well in their first battle, ‘many of them got so excited and earnest that they would stand right up on the rifle pits regardless of exposure.’ This may imply that the African American soldiers were a bit reckless but they were eager to serve. During their first major engagement at the Battle of Port Hudson on May 27 1863, the 1st and 3rd Louisiana

Swimming against a current of pro-war fervor, McKinley stuck to his guns and persisted on remaining diplomatic with the investigation of the Maine explosion still ongoing. This seemed to infuriate the entire nation. Jingoists in congress, yellow journalists and the American public were clamoring for Spanish blood after the Maine, and to them McKinley came across as a feeble leader. McKinley offered one last chance for Spain to avoid war by agreeing to an armistice. He thought that the Spanish would understand that it would be a foolish decision to engage in war with a rising US power. The negative Spanish response did not leave McKinley with many options.

The North had entered into conflict not to end slavery, but instead to preserve the Union however a looming executive action would change that. On September 22, 1862 Lincoln delivered his Emancipation Proclamation. This was a sweeping action that granted freedom to the slaves of the confederacy. While the Proclamation was a grand gesture, the Confederate States did not recognize the authority of President Lincoln, and the proclamation did not apply in the border states. Essentially at the time, the proclamation was given it only freed slaves who had managed to escape behind Union lines. The slaves that remained in the south would have to wait for Union forces to arrive, or escape to the North before receiving their freedom. While it was limited in its power, the proclamation had made the abolition of slavery an official war goal. Freedom for Southern slaves would come but only as the Union took territory from the Confederacy.