HIST 101Survey of American History I M07 Discussion 11

HIST 101Survey of American History I M07 Discussion 11

Covering Chapter 13 and the Emancipation Proclamation (Links to an external site.) The Emancipation Proclamation was one of the greatest political documents in American history. Defend or refute that statement.

The Emancipation Proclamation was one of the greatest political documents in American history. Defend or refute that statement.

I choose to refute the statement. The biggest issue with the Emancipation Proclamation lies in its beginning, "That on the 1st day of January, A.D. 1863, 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". In this statement, Lincoln specifically states that slaves held in states that are currently rebelling against the United States are freed. Given that such a thing is the case, it follows that the people of those states would not honor the Emancipation Proclamation, as they do not recognize the United States government as having any authority over them. Although he declared them free, in actuality none of the slaves were freed. It would be like Donald Trump giving a speech simply declaring prisoners in North Korea free. Given that the North Korean government does not obey the will of the United States government, nothing would come to pass as a result of the speech. No prisoners would be freed. The Emancipation Proclamation was more-or-less a symbolic gesture of Lincoln's supposed opposition to slavery. Furthermore, the Emancipation Proclamation did not free the slaves in border states that were not actively rebelling against the United States, such as Kentucky. As a result, the speech had little real effect and, as far as I can estimate, was nothing more than the sort of symbolic gesture that politicians regularly throw out to help them win larger objectives.