The Issue of Slavery in America

Between 1850 and 1865 slavery was a big issue in America. But Abraham Lincoln changed the country with the Emancipation Proclamation in. Which he granted all slaves within the confederacys control freedom. During the civil war the slaves had a huge impact on the Northern victory. But the Southern view of the proclamation was not as much of a celebration but more of a riot. Because not all slaves were set free, the South still had slaves, but the slaves who were set free moved North and many joined the fight against the South, this being a major reason for the Souths defeat. The Emancipation Proclamation was a huge relief for slaves in the South, and people in the North, but for the people in the South, things were not as well, especially during the civil war.

As slavery was starting to become a problem in America, Abraham Lincoln came up with the idea of Emancipation of all slaves within the confederacys control. The proclamation was officially established on January 1st 1863, and it stated that all slaves were to be set free from then on (Doc D). Abraham Lincoln stated that every man no matter what color they might be should have the same rights as any other citizen of the United States (Doc E). Slavery, though, was not completely abolished until 1865 when the 13th Amendment was established. Many of the slaves that were set free navigated to the North and joined the fight against the South in the civil war. With so many slaves joining the fight, the South was outnumbered and would soon be defeated by not only the Northern states, but also by the slaves who were taken away from them with the proclamation put in place.

The South had a hard time adjusting to the fact that they were losing everything they had been so used to having since the establishment of Southern states but things were not looking good for the South and their labor units, and things were looking even worse for their defense units. Since slavery had been going on since in the U.S. since discovery, it was a very hard process for the country to go through, but the South was at a huge loss because of all the labor loss. Even before the proclamation not many people owned more than ten slaves while more than half the Southern population owned little to no slaves, but for the farmers and middle class families it was a huge hindrance in their normal lives (Doc F).

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Many middle class families in the South treated their slaves well, while some did not. Some slaves got fresh food and clothing and had no problem with their owners and their rules, but along with good there is also evil, as some owners would beat their slaves, starve them, and make them wear rags for clothing. To the slaves, Abraham Lincoln was a savior, or to others he was best known as, The Great Emancipator. Abraham Lincoln made it clear to the country that he wanted slavery abolished with many speeches and debates (Doc B), but the 13th Amendment was not established until December of 1865, after Abraham Lincolns assassination in April of the same year. Because most farmers used slave labor as a way of keeping their farms and crops going, it was very hard for them to keep up with all of the work that needed to be done, and for middle class families it was the change more than the hindrance that was hard to cope with.

Even though the South lost the war and they no longer had slave labor to care for their farms and crops, they got past the defeat and the loss of slavery and they started all over with a new way of living. Slavery was completely abolished with the 13th Amendment and the North along with their victory had new citizens within the region. The Emancipation Proclamation influenced the civil war after the freed slaves joined the Northern side of the war, giving the North a bigger advantage against the South.

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