Question

Read this passage from the Emancipation Proclamation. In one paragraph, explain how this statement changed the Union's goals in the Civil War. If the United States was reunited, what do you think the fate of slavery would be?

All persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.1

Answer 1

The statement from the Emancipation Proclamation marked a significant shift in the Union's goals during the Civil War, transforming it from primarily a struggle to preserve the Union into a moral crusade against slavery. By declaring that all enslaved individuals in rebelling states would be free, President Lincoln not only aimed to weaken the Confederacy's labor force and economic structure but also framed the conflict as one fought for human freedom. If the United States were successfully reunited after the war, the fate of slavery would likely face considerable scrutiny and change. The momentum generated by the Proclamation, along with growing anti-slavery sentiments in the North, would suggest that the institution of slavery could not endure in a nation founded on liberty and equality. This shift would eventually lead to the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment, solidifying the end of slavery in the United States, reflecting a definitive transformation in the nation's values post-Civil War.