The Emancipation Proclamation

The Emancipation Proclamation

The Emancipation Proclamation was issued and signed by President Abraham Lincoln on September 22,1862. You may wonder what was the purpose of this document? What impact did it have on society? Does it impact society in any way today?

The Emancipation Proclamation was written around the time of the Civil War. The purpose of the Emancipation Proclamation was to free all of the slaves that were loyal to the Confederacy and going against the Union. During this time the states were still very divided on the topic of slavery. Some states were pro-slavery and other states were anti-slavery. Mainly states in the north were pro-slavery and mainly states in the south were anti-slavery. 

Some people have the misconception that the Emancipation Proclamation abolished slavery in America. But, the Emancipation Proclamation only freed the slaves that were loyal to the Confederacy. According to Emancipation Proclamation-HISTORY, "Lincoln didn't actually free all of the approximately 4 million men, women, and children held in slavery...The document applied only to enslaved people in the Confederacy, and not to those in the border states that remained loyal to the Union." The Emancipation Proclamation only freed but a handful of slaves.

Lincoln believed that slavery was wrong. And during his reign as president he did what he could to help bring an end to slavery. And one of those things being the Emancipation Proclamation.

Now you may wonder what impact did this document have on the society during that time? Although the Emancipation Proclamation was issued on September 22,1862 everything that this document contained was not practiced until January 1,1863. According to Emancipation Proclamation-HISTORY ,"On September 22, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, which declared that as of January 1, 1863, all enslaved people in the states currently engaged in rebellion against the Union "shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free." 

After this document was issued this granted a handful of slaves their freedom and this opened the door to slavery later down the road being abolished in America. Which leads to the impact that the Emancipation Proclamation has on society today with the creation of the 13th amendment. The 13th amendment was passed by congress on January 31, 1865. This amendment abolished slavery in America permanently.

Based on the information from 13th Amendment- NATIONAL ARCHIVES, "Passed by Congress on January 31, 1865, and ratified on December 6, 1865, the 13th Amendment abolished slavery in the United States...Nonetheless, the Emancipation Proclamation did not end slavery in the nation since it only applied to areas of the Confederacy currently in a state of rebellion...The 13th Amendment was passed at the end of the Civil War." You can see how although the Emancipation Proclamation did not end slavery in America permanently it did open up the path way to the creation of the 13th Amendment which eventually did abolish slavery in America permanently. 

The battle with slavery was something that America dealt with for a long time. For a while the northern states were more anti-slavery and the southern states were more pro-slavery. Under the presidency of Abraham Lincoln the Emancipation Proclamation was issued that opened the door to the abolishment of slavery in America. But, the 13th Amendment officially made slavery permanently abolished in America. This was the impact of the Emancipation Proclamation.