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Abraham Lincoln's motives in freeing the slaves
Sep 22, 2004 11:05 AM
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I have noticed that there is a great deal of confusion and controversy on this message board regarding Abraham Lincoln's motives in freeing the slaves. Some say he freed the slaves only to gain popular support. Others say he freed the slaves to weaken the South economically.
Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves for three reasons. The first reason he freed the slaves was to weaken the South economically. Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation to free the slaves in the states that were part of the Confederacy. The EP did not free the slaves in states that remained in the Union. If Lincoln freed the slaves of the CSA, it would weaken the South economically because the South would lose a great source of labor.
The second reason Lincoln freed the slaves was to gain popular support, both in America and in Europe. Although Europeans, especially the British, were pro-South because the South sold them cotton, Europeans were generally anti-slavery. If the United States was fighting a war to end slavery, Europeans would be much less inclined to support the CSA in the Civil War.
Also, Lincoln freed the slaves to gain popular support in the United States. Although fighting to emancipate the slaves would be unpopular at first, Lincoln knew that people generally eventually switched their philosophies to support the government's decisions. At first, the fighting to emancipate the slaves was generally unpopular in the North. Eventually the emancipation of the slaves became a cause to fight the war for most northerners.
A third reason Lincoln issued the EP was that Lincoln thought it was morally right. Although preserving the Union was always the main goal of Abraham Lincoln, it was never Lincoln's only goal in fighting the Civil War. Evidence of this is Lincoln's rejection of the Crittendon Compromise in 1860. A main feature of the Crittendon Compromise was that it was a promise that slavery would never be abolished in the South. All the other features of the compromise were features that Lincoln wanted.
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Re: Abraham Lincoln's motives in freeing the slaves
Sep 22, 2004 11:18 AM
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I agree completely with what you have said, however I do have one problem.
Lincoln freeing the slaves weakened the South's economy...so you say. However, the Emancipation was only delivered to the South via Union troops. Thus the only way slaves could be set free was if the North came into their area and set them free. I must make mention of the fact that the South had the weaker economy to begin with, the EP only did damage in the states that had Northern troops present.
We are about to brave a storm in a ship made of paper.
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Re: Abraham Lincoln's motives in freeing the slaves
Sep 22, 2004 1:44 PM
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100% correct (although I would add that Lincoln not only wanted to weaken the South's economy but also their military. By emancipating the slaves many black laborers who would have built fortifications, worked in supply lines etc... were no longer available to Southerners and white who otherwise would have fought had to do some of these jobs.)
"I do not wish to think, or speak, or write, with moderation. . . I am in earnest -- I will not equivocate -- I will not excuse -- I will not retreat a single inch -- and I will be heard." William Lloyd Garrison
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Re: Abraham Lincoln's motives in freeing the slaves
Sep 23, 2004 12:23 PM
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I agree, mostly. The only addendum I would add is that, although technically the slaves were frees, they were also told to stay and work where they were. A couple of reasons for this: 1)food for Union soldiers occupying Southern lands, 2)restrictions on any civilian traffic, mostly safety reasons but also for spying concerns. It was only after 1865-1870 that there was wholesale encouragement from the North to have former slaves immigrate from the South and that was mostly to punish the South, depriving them of a source of labor.
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A woman of faith is courageous, a woman of faith is gentle, a woman of faith is prayerful, a woman of faith is powerful
The irony of the Atonement is that it is infinite and eternal, yet it is applied individually, one person at a time.
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Re: Abraham Lincoln's motives in freeing the slaves
Apr 22, 2009 9:18 AM
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But why did he want to weaken the South?
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las vegas
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Re: Abraham Lincoln's motives in freeing the slaves
Apr 22, 2009 9:48 AM
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They were already freed when they boarded the Cruise
ships from Africa 200+ years earlier !
MONGOCHOW
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11/27/03
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(7 of 7)
Re: Abraham Lincoln's motives in freeing the slaves
Oct 20, 2009 3:30 AM
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To end the war without so much bloodshed. By making them give up instead of fighting.
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