Friday, January 10, 2014

Antietam and the Emancipation Proclamation

Antietam

The Battle of Antietam (also known as The Second Battle of Bull Run and The Battle of Sharpsburg), was fought on September 17, 1862, on Union Soil (Maryland). General Lee led the Confederate troops, while General McClellan led the Union. The Union army had a great advantage because one of  Lee's men had dropped their battle plan. The Union army used this to their advantage when being confronted by the Southerners. After the Union depleted the South's army, the south retreated to Virginia. Because McClellan did not pursue the Confederate army, Abraham Lincoln removed him as General for the last time for not being aggressive enough. The battle was ,strictly speaking, a draw. Even though the battle was considered a draw, the North took it home as a victory because the South gained no land and foreign support. This was a key battle for the Confederacy because they hoped that if they were victorious, they would be aided by foreign powers (France and Great Britain). The retreat of the South provided the North with immense hope for future battles and ending the war. Because Lincoln considered The Battle of Antietam victorious, he felt comfortable to issue the Emancipation Proclamation.


This diagram shows the Battle of Antietam : commons.wikimedia.org

 Emancipation Proclamation


The Emancipation Proclamation was a declaration that stated all slaves who lived in the Confederate South, were to be free. This only applied to those states who had seceded from the Union. As a result, the slaves in the border states were yet to be free. Lincoln wanted to keep the favoritism of the border states in order to remain protected from the south and to keep them on the Union side. Lincoln put this into full effect on January 1, 1863. The proclamation gave a blow to the South when it wanted to free their slave work-force. The South was upset because their economy was based on agriculture, and the slaves worked for free (once bought) and for long hours. The declaration also stated that all Slaves who are freed from the Confederate states were welcome to join the Union Army. This made the Southerner feel more weak and vulnerable. The proclamation made the reason of fighting in the Civil War lean towards slavery. 


This is what the real emancipation proclamation looks like. : www.phawker.com

No comments:

Post a Comment