The Emancipation Proclamation forced the new chapter in the United States’ history that led the citizens to change their perception of slavery. Lincoln (1863) stated that “I declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States shall be free and that the Executive government will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons.” For the former slaves, multiple outcomes of the President’s order were immediate, while others had a long-term impact on their lives.
The nation was in the middle of the Civil War, and the most instant effect of declaring the slaves free is the increase in the manpower for the Union. Lincoln crafted the order as a military necessity, however, the ability to join the army was beneficial for former slaves to help impact the later official slavery abolishment (Gallagher & Waugh, 2016). Another immediate outcome of the Emancipation Proclamation is that many liberated were women, children, and older people, and since Lincoln’s declaration, they could receive better health care and government support (Burns, 2009a). These new conditions encouraged former slaves to fight against the Confederation and led the Union to victory in the Civil War in 1865.
The long-term impact of the Emancipation Proclamation is the switches in how slaves were perceived in society. The liberated people got the chance to prove that they deserve equal rights and even the states where slavery remained started to recognize the benefits of liberation. Moreover, Lincoln’s order helped black people to gain authority through military success as the Union Army’s soldiers gave their lives for the nation with equal rights (Burns, 2009b). The War revealed that the idea of unity could not exist with slavery, and the Emancipation Proclamation, with its victorious result, was a significant step towards the full liberation with the Thirteenth Amendment (McPherson, 2015). The former slaves became the citizens who then impacted the United States’ development in all institutions.
References
Burns, K. (2009a). The Civil War: Episode 3 – Forever free [Film]. PBS Distribution.
Burns, K. (2009b). The Civil War: Episode 4 – Simply murder [Film]. PBS Distribution.
Gallagher, G. W. & Waugh, J. (2016). The American war: A history of the Civil War era. Flip Learning.
Lincoln, A. (1863). The Emancipation Proclamation. Web.
McPherson, J. M. (2015). The war that forged a nation: Why the Civil War still matters. Oxford University Press.