why did lincoln issuse the emanicpation proclamtin when he did?

Question

trying to find a concrete answer as to why he issued it when he did and ifthe emanicaption proclamation was a politcal or humanitarian motive?

Answer 1

hang on- i will consult with my spirit guides....Abe said it sounded like a good idea.

Answer 2

Lincoln first discussed the proclamation with his cabinet in July 1862, but he felt that he needed a Union victory on the battlefield so it would not look like a desperate effort. After the Battle of Antietam, in which Union troops turned back a Confederate invasion of Maryland, he issued a preliminary proclamation on September 22, 1862. The final proclamation was then issued in January of the following year.

Answer 3

the emanicaption proclamation was a politcal manuver over states he no longer controlled. The bigger picture is the FACT that he intended to change the draft of the 13th Amendment after the war to read that slavery would forever be Illegal as oppossed to always Legal as the south had intended before Lincoln was elected.

Ship them Back??? Please that is one of the Oldest myths on the planet. It was an offer from Seward to those that wanted to do that. It would have taken the Whole US navy 80 years at the levels calculated in 1868 and Lincoln was dead in his Grave.

Answer 4

Separating the question of timing from the question of purpose:

He issued it in 1863 after the Union was successful at Gettysburg, the only battle of the war actually fought on Union soil. Up until that time, the North was not solidly behind the war at all. He waited until the moment when he felt he had the North actually supporting him.

The purpose was to appease the Union Abolitionists. The effect of it was limited to slaves in southern territory that was taken after the proclamation, and slaveowners in those areas could be expected to have taken their slaves with them before the arrival of any troops.

It can hardly be said to have been humanitarian. Lincoln's desire for the post-war period was to ship the freed slaves back to Africa.

Answer 5

Purely political. I strongly urge you to read "Freedom" by William Safire, a compelling look at the Civil War and Lincoln's actions leading up to the Proclamation.