5 Things You Didn't Know About the Emancipation Proclamation

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Source; http://triviatoday.com/blog/featured.asp

5 Things You Didn't Know About the Emancipation Proclamation

On September 22, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln issued an order now known as the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that slaves in Confederate states that still sought secession would be freed.  Here are five things you didn't know about the Emancipation Proclamation...

Before the Emancipation Proclamation, the Civil War Wasn't Popularly Linked to Slavery

The Civil War started out as a war of secession only in the minds of Lincoln and his cabinet. Lincoln actually thought he did not have the authority to free slaves, even though he supported the abolition of slavery. It wasn't until the Proclamation was issued that the abolition of slavery moved front and center in the war.

The Proclamation Was an Executive Order, Not a Law

When the Proclamation was issued, it was a directive (similar to those executive orders issued by modern-day presidents) created to address a growing problem during the Civil War—but it wasn't a law passed by Congress, and its constitutionality was also suspect. The increasing calls for the abolition of slavery allowed the order to remain in effect during the war with less opposition than it might have faced in peacetime, but Lincoln was concerned that the end of the Civil War might cause the order to be eliminated. Toward the end of the Civil War, Congress approved the 13th Amendment, making emancipation official.

It Didn't Free All Slaves

In fact, it didn't free even a majority of slaves. The Proclamation is popularly seen now as this wide-ranging reform, but all it really did was say that the slaves in states that were still rebelling as of January 1, 1863, would be freed. Not the slaves in states that decided to stop rebelling, or slaves in states that had never rebelled, or in those in Union territory, but only those in about ten states that still had a chance to give up fighting. However, the Proclamation was a vital step toward expanding emancipation for all slaves.

Escaping Slaves During the Early Years of the War Led to the Proclamation.

Lincoln did not go into the Civil War with ending slavery as the main goal because he was concerned about how states in the North, but along the border, would react. However, escaping slaves forced him to face the problem. Shortly after the war started, slaves in Virginia started escaping across the border into the North, leading to disagreements about whether the slaves were fugitives, and thus subject to return under the Fugitive Slave Law, or whether they were "contraband of war," and thus able to stay in the North. Congress began passing laws that ended the requirement that fugitive slaves be returned and that also abolished slavery in the District of Columbia. Some Union commanders even issued mini-emancipation-style proclamations of their own in different territories. Eventually, Lincoln had to come up with something that addressed the messy but expanding situation.

Lincoln's Own Cabinet Nearly Derailed the Proclamation

While some in Lincoln's cabinet supported the proclamation—they knew that the freed slaves could become soldiers and help fight against the Confederacy—others were not happy about the potential effect that former slaves would have on society. One cabinet member was very opposed to any sort of equality for the former slaves, for example, while at least one other cabinet member thought the move would cost them the next election. Still others thought the move looked desperate, given that the Union hadn't been doing too well in battle (one member told Lincoln to wait to announce the measure until after a substantial Union battle victory; Lincoln concurred). In the end, though, the proclamation was released, changing the political landscape of the Civil War.