Emancipation
The destruction
of slavery powerfully shaped the course of the Civil War and the debate
over Reconstruction. The Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 infused the
Union war effort with a new moral spirit, and ensured that Northern victory
would produce a social revolution in the South. Two years later, Congress
enacted and the states ratified the Thirteenth Amendment, abolishing slavery
throughout the nation.
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Although
the Lincoln administration at first insisted that the preservation of
the Union, not the abolition of slavery, was its objective, slaves quickly
seized the opportunity to strike for their freedom.As the Union army occupied
Southern territory, slaves by the thousands abandoned the plantations. Their actions forced a reluctant Lincoln administration
down the road to emancipation.
Copyright
2003