The Emancipation Proclamation speech was given by US President Abraham Lincoln on January 1st, 1863, when the country was engaged in a long-lasting Civil War. The message of the Proclamation concerned the fact that people who were held as slaves in rebellious states were and would be free (The Emancipation Proclamation, n.d.). Though the wording of the Proclamation was quite general and extensive, it had several severe limitations since it was applied only to the states that seceded from the United States. At the same time, slavery remained in the states that were loyal to the Union and the President. Apart from that, the Proclamation promised freedom to enslaved people only in case of Union victory over the forces of the Confederacy (The Emancipation Proclamation, n.d.). However, the ambiguous nature of the document did not prevent the Emancipation Proclamation from shaping people’s minds and giving them hope for the sooner end of slavery in the USA.
The Proclamation was among the first and the most important steps toward the liquidation of slavery in the US, and it completely changed the course of the Civil War. Though the Proclamation was presented as only a military measure, its effect on the formerly enslaved people who lived in the Southern territories helped transform the character of the Civil War. Being at first the war for power and influence, it transformed into the war for freedom and against slavery (History.com Editors, n.d.). The effect of the Emancipation Proclamation on US history is enormous. It helped the Union gain victory over the Confederacy became the first document that promised freedom to the black people who lived in the South States occupied by the forces of the Confederation.
Though the Emancipation Proclamation did not guarantee the liquidation of slavery in the United States, it served as a prerequisite for its temporary and then full abolition in the country. Since the Proclamation contained points on emancipation only for the war times and not for all slaves, President Lincoln and Congress started to develop another act about slavery annihilation after the war ended. It is also worth mentioning that not everyone approved of this legislative initiative that came from the President who strongly supported the abolishment of slavery in the United States (History.com Editors, n.d.). Moreover, many lawmakers, including those who created the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution themselves, had enslaved workers in their command, they acknowledged that slavery was morally unacceptable and wrong. However, only Abraham Lincoln managed to temporarily and then fully prohibit it in the US by taking the 13th Amendment in 1865. President Lincoln himself assessed slavery liquidation as the central act of his administration and the great achievement of the 19th century (History.com Editors, n.d.). Thus, slavery abolishment boosted by the Emancipation Proclamation began the new era in US history.
Taking into account all mentioned above, it is possible to conclude that the Emancipation Proclamation is one of the most important US laws that changed its history. It not only helped the Union forces gain victory over the Confederacy through giving freedom to the enslaved people in the Southern states but also served as a prerequisite for the 13th Amendment. The Proclamation changed people’s minds and hopes during the war, and its legal approval made the slavery abolishment inevitable for the United States.
References
History.com Editors (n.d.). Emancipation proclamation. History. Web.
The Emancipation Proclamation (n.d.). National Archives. Web.