Civil war question?

Question

if Abraham Lincoln signed the emancipation Prolomation in 1863, the why did the civil war stay until 1861-1865? wouldnt the emancipation proclomation just ban slavery everywhere? why were they still fighting? Or was the south rebbelling?

Answer 1

There is a great deal of misunderstanding about the Emancipation Proclamation, including much in the answers you have received so far!

First, the Emancipation Proclamation [E.P.] was NOT supposed to directly bring the war to an end -- though Lincoln's "preliminary" statement of it on Sept 22, 1862 DID announce that he would NOT make the Proclamation permanent until Jan. 1, 1863.... thus giving them an opportunity to end the rebellion without the loss of their slaves. It was chiefly a "war measure" to help the North fight the war (see pt #3 below)

Second, what many say about the Proclamation's not really freeing anybody is a SERIOUS misunderstanding. Here's how:

1) It DID bring freedom. n fact,, it IMMEDIATELY established the freedom of many fugitive slaves, encouraged others to flee (thus ensuring their own freedom-- they would NOT be returned), and meant that, whenever the Union army was able to take a territory, its slaves would immediately be free as well.

2) Lincoln did not have a Constitutional basis for freeing slaves in areas NOT in rebellion. Much as we might like the idea of Lincoln just deciding to free all slaves everywhere, the Constitution gave him no power to do such... and if he had TRIED such a thing he would immediately have been slapped down by political opponents, and esp. by the federal courts.

3) But he DID have "war powers" -- and so he could, in order to wage war effectively and to put down the rebellion, do all sorts of things that might deprive those at war with the U.S. of resources to WAGE war. And slaves WERE such a resource. So Lincoln was acting to take away the slaves. . .partly by this proclamation that ENCOURAGED them to flee and so secure their freedom. And that's what many soon did!

4) Some complain about the dry technical language of the E.P. But this was NOT a political document to try to convince people of something (NOT like a speech). It was a very carefully constructed LEGAL document that Lincoln was trying to craft in such a way that it could hold up against the inevitable challenge to it in the federal courts, esp. in the hostile Supreme Court still presided over by Taney, who wrote the Dred Scott decision!

5) Further, the Proclamation was only ONE piece of Lincoln's efforts to secure freedom for the slaves in BOTH the North and South. Till shortly before issuing the E.P. Lincoln had been pleading with the border states still in the Union (which DID still have slaves!) to agree to compensated emancipation. (And by the war's end these various states had ended up legally ending slavery in their own borders.) Further, he supported efforts that led to the 13th amendment -- including doing a lot of logrolling and other maneuvers to secure the votes for that amendment (which passed Congress in January of 1865), and even pushing Nevada quickly through the statehood-process to gain extra votes for the state-ratification of the amendment.

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An important clarification -- CutieTeacher is right that the North's REASON for fighting the war was to preserve or restore the Union. But "reason" and "cause" are not always the same thing! In fact, it is quite clear that the issue of slavery was the key thing that CAUSED secession, and so led to the war. (Some like to say it was "states' rights" but neglect to observe that the SPECIFIC "state right" being fought for was completely bound up with owning slaves! And the statements issued by S.C., Miss, Texas, etc., when the seceded SPECIFICALLY stated this!!)

Answer 2

As a side point, the Emancipation Proclamation did not ban slavery everywhere in the US -- just in the states attempting to leave the union.

More centrally -- I'm puzzled by your question. How would a proclamation from one side in a war end the war (unless it was giving the other side what it wanted)? To the extent that the Proclamation ended slavery in the southern states, that just would create a reason for the southern states to fight longer and harder.

The war lasted until the North beat the South on the battlefield. ANd yes, the South was rebelling.

Answer 3

Theoretically you are right, but think about this: any documents that have ended a war in the past were treaties that were agreed upon by both sides. The Emanicaption Proclamation was not a treaty. It was also passed before the war ended which means that it could not be enforced in the states that the North did not already control. Really, how would they have been able to enforce it? The South had its own presidency and those states that were not under Northern control did not listen to the Northern presidency.

Answer 4

Lincoln freed the slaves only for the states that had left the union. SInce those states did not recognze the US govt they did not free anybody. Although popular the civil war's primary reason was not slavery but the states right to leave the union. The north had manufacturing and did not need slaves to work. and south has argiculture and their economy was based on slave labor. It was an attempt to encourage the slaves into a mass uprising to break the economic back of the southern states. It did not work. The war was won in battles and a large number of deaths. The majority of those who died ,as in every war did not have a economic reason to fight but felt a moral obligation, their patriotic duty to change or preserve the status quo.

Answer 5

That's pretty much the whole point - the south didn't like what the north was doing, so they decided to secede from the union and form their own country, which they called the "Confederate States of America." Since they considered themselves to be a different country, they didn't consider themselves bound by anything that Lincoln or anybody else in the Union signed, and they kept fighting to prove their point. Ultimately, of course, they lost the war, at which point the Emancipation Proclamation began to be enforced.

Answer 6

The Proclamation just made the South more desperate and inspired them to fight harder as they had more to loose once it was signed. Thee was no way the South was ever going to make a peace that included accepting the Emancipation Proclamation. Incidentally, notice that the Proclamation only banned slavery in states and ares that the Federal Government did not control. It did not ban slavery in slave states like Maryland that did not secede, nor in slavery areas that the Union Army had occupied.

Answer 7

Technically, the Emancipation Proclamation only ended slavery in the areas in which Lincoln did not control....and left slavery intact in the states in which he DID control.
As important a document as it was, it really had no affect on the war. The Civil War was still raging, and continued for another two years.

Answer 8

The Emancipation Proclamation was a political effort to rally weary Northern Troops behind a cause they could grasp. Frankly, slavery would have died out on its own in 10-15 more years, even without the war.

The real fight was an issue of states-rights versus a strong central government. As much as we take this for granted today, it was not well established that the U.S. Government could force policy and decisions upon the States. It's an extension of Constitutional Law really - Strict Constructionalists vs. Loose Constructionlists. What powers are reserved to the states vs. the federal government? If it's not mentioned in the Constitution - who's power is it?

Answer 9

Slavery as not the reason for the civil war. It was a war of independence, and the south wanted to become an independent nation. The South did not recognize the authority of the North to pass laws such as the Emancipation Proclamation, and so we had to continue fighting to ensure that they remained a part of the United States and abided by our laws.

Answer 10

The cause for the Civil War was not slavery, that was a small part. The main reason was to save the union. The South refused to surrender, so the war went on.