If Lincoln was Fighting Against Slavery why wait three Years to Say so?

Answer 1

Lincoln was reluctant to issue an Emancipation Proclamation but you would have thought from what one is taught in class these days this was his primary concern. He issued the proclamation to save the Union making impossible for foreign Governments to intervene on behalf of the Confederacy. Even though the English supported (indirectly) slavery, they like other countries were officially against the practice. By his actions, Lincoln was showing the US was against slavery but not the Confederacy. If like the leaders of these countries at the time, you took the time to read and study the act you would see it does nothing and in fact, Lincoln thought that the Afro American was not the equal of whites and his plan was to resettle the slaves in either the Amazon or Western Texas.

Most people are not aware that there was a series of action and even proclamations for instance Lincolns correspondence of October 14, 1862 to the military and civilian authorities of occupied Louisiana.

“Major General Butler, Governor Shepley, & and [sic] all having military and naval authority under the United States within the S[t]ate of Louisiana. The bearer of this, Hon. John E. Bouligny, a citizen of Louisiana, goes to the State seeking to have such of the people thereof as desire to avoid the unsatisfactory prospect before them, and to have peace again upon the old terms under the constitution of the United States, to manifest such desire by elections of members to the Congress of the United States particularly, and perhaps a legislature, State officers, and United States Senators friendly to their object. I shall be glad for you and each of you, to aid him and all others acting for this object, as much as possible. In all available ways, give the people a chance to express their wishes at these elections. Follow forms of law as far as convenient, but at all events get the expression of the largest number of the people possible. All see how such action will connect with, and affect the proclamation of September 22nd. Of course, the men elected should be gentlemen of character willing to swear support to the Constitution, as of old, and known to be above reasonable suspicion of duplicity. (CW 5:462-3, italics added).

NOTE: The italic show that Lincoln rather then issue an Emancipation Proclamation or free the slaves was still willing to allow the Southern States back into the Union. One will find this all the way up to the 1865 visit to Camp Lookout.

At the same time Lincoln was issuing the Emancipation Proclamation he was petitioning his cabinet to negotiate and appropriate funds to force the Blacks else where.

In 1864, Jeff Davis and other Southerner leaders would contemplate outlawing slavery and probably would have if the opportunity had arisen.

God Bless You and The Southern People.

Answer 2

Because Lincoln's intention was only in preserving the Union and stopping slavery from advancing into the newly acquired territories was his original goal. It was because the war was not going well for the North that the Lincoln administration believed that a change in the course of the war was needed. Thus before the congressional elections of 1862 the Emancipation Proclamation was announced after the narrow victory at Antietam(the only reason is it stopped for a time the Southern advance northward and to Washington.) The Emancipation Proclamation had its desirable effects in giving the North new incentive in fighting the war, cast blacks into fighting for freedom, hurt the South in production and manpower and brought the Radical Republicans into notice as a political power until the end of Reconstruction. The Emancipation Proclamation did not free one slave. It took a constitutional amendment after Lincoln's death to do this.

Answer 3

Lincoln in peacetime had no constitutional authority to free the slaves.

The civil war gave him the power to issue the proclamation, but the lacklustre performance of the early Union Generals meant that he had to shoulder most of the running of the war.

Lincoln drafted the proclamation early on (though he only showed it to his cabinet in 1862) but he was not prepared to issue it before:
a.) it could be enforced
b.) it would not look like a desperate effort
c.) he could be sure that the border states would not join the Confederates if the order was issued.


The Union Generals were so pathetic before Grant that Lincoln had to wait until the Battle of Antietam before he was confident enough to issue the preliminary proclamation on September 22, 1862. The final proclamation was then issued in January of the following year.

The proclamation was a military order issued by Lincoln in his capacity as Commander-in-Chief, rather than the equivalent of a statute enacted by Congress, or a constitutional amendment.

So blame congress for leaving the abolition of slavery up to the president.

Answer 4

Lincoln wasn't fighting against slavery. He was trying to keep the Union together. The Confederate States were suceeding from the rest of the country. That's a hostile act and therefore it had to be preserved.

Answer 5

Because he wasn't fighting AGAINST slavery, he was fighting FOR the union of the states. But he knew that giving the army a "moral" objective would boost morale (especially after the disatrous "victory" at Antietam) and also that he needed additional political support from key Northern Republicans, most of whom were staunch abolitionists. In short the Emancipation Proclamation wasn't personal, it was just political business.

Answer 6

fighting to preserve the Union was the main objective in the War Between the States. when Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation there was an uproar from many Union forces.

Answer 7

The Emancipation Proclamation was politically motivated.Although Lincoln didn't like slavery,he wasn't in any hurry to end it.

Answer 8

He wasn't - at least that wasn't his primary reason. He was fighting to save the Union. There's a quotation to the effect that 'if I could save the Union by freeing all the slaves I would ... if I could save the Union by freeing some of the slaves I would ... and if I could save the Union by freeing none of the slaves I would.'

Answer 9

Cause they'd string him up just for suggesting such a thing, he had to ease the other freaks into the idea that africans were actually people too. sounds weird don't it?

Answer 10

He had laryngitis?