In this activity, we looked at the ways in which slaves were granted freedom, and the steps that were taken to get to this result. The essential questions for this lesson were: "Who "gave" freedom to enslaved Americans? Did freedom come from above or below? To what extent were Abraham Lincoln's actions influenced by the actions of enslaved Americans? To find out the answers to these questions, we looked at four letters/speeches from Abraham Lincoln to look at his professional and personal opinion on slavery at different times during the war.
But first, we looked at this picture of Lincoln, who seemed to be personally giving slaves their freedom, as the slaves were kneeling next to him thanking. From this picture, it appears as though the slaves freedom came completely from “above”, as Lincoln is the one giving it. But, once we looked more closely at documents describing slaves actions during the war, it is clear to see that the freedom in fact began from “below”. If the slaves had not forced the issue of slavery upon those above them, than those above them, i.e President Lincoln, would not have put so much of an emphasis on the topic. To answer the essential question, while the freedom was “given” by those above them, the actions to make this freedom possible were directly influenced and an effect of the enslaved americans. It is surprising and strange to learn that those who receive the freedom are also the ones who are giving it. This is not technically true, and on paper it is obvious that Abraham Lincoln, with his Emancipation Proclamation and other documents and speeches supporting slavery, is the one who gave the slaves freedom. But the only reason that the had done this was because the slaves made themselves so much of a problem he was forced to deal with it.
The first document that we looked at was an excerpt from President Lincolns reply to an Open Letter from Horace Greeley, in which he states that his "paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union and is not either to save or to destroy
slavery." (1)The letter makes it very clear that the primary intention of the war is not at all to abolish slavery, but just to keep to union together. He goes on to say that if this can only be done with abolishing slavery, he will, and if can be done without abolishing slavery, then he will not abolish it. As time goes on, his speeches and letters begin to show a different story from that of this first letter. In the second document, the Emancipation Proclamation, President Lincoln officially grants freedom to all slaves. He still does not recognize that the war is about slavery, stating that the emancipation is "a fit and necessary war measure
for suppressing said rebellion"(2) - meaning that the slaves were granted their freedom because of a rebellion they created, and therefore were the reason that they were given this freedom. In the last document we looked at, President Lincolns Second Inaugural Address, in 1865, the truth that the war was about slavery is finally said. Not only that, but Lincoln says that the war was a caused by the slaves persistent fight for their freedom. "These slaves constituted a peculiar and
powerful interest. All knew that this interest was somehow the cause of the war." (3)
The people who the issue directly affects will always be the people who work the hardest to resolve the issue, in whatever protest they may be fighting for. The slaves "made a nuisance of themselves" and did what they could to get the attention of those in power, and those that could official abolish what they were fighting against, slavery. In todays world, it is extremely easy from people to fight for issues that they believe in with all of the technology and connectivity that is available. Hashtags have been created for countless causes, and spread throughout the world through twitter. Feminism beliefs have been shared by the message #heforshe, with many celebrity feminists supporting and spreading awareness of the cause. Racism and police brutality towards blacks has been expressed and fought against by #blacklivesmatter. Because many individuals whom are personally affected by these issues shedding light upon them, more people are able to see and possibly do something about it. The outrage of so many about the current police brutality and riots has made those from above, who have power, to be forced to do something about it. The civil war was over 150 years ago, and we are still facing a modification of its cause today. It may look different, but the objective is the same, racial equality in the united states. And although it may look different, the question of who is giving the freedom can be answered in the same way. Regardless of who signs the documents and writes the laws for this racial equality to happen, the reason that it will happen is because of the many individuals from "below"- not in power or government, that forced those from "above" to make the change.
Citations:
Image of Lincoln: http://www.springfieldmuseums.org/the_museums/fine_arts/collection/view/288-freedom_to_the_slaves_proclaimed_january_1st_1863_by_abraham_lincoln_president_of_the_united_states_proclaim_liberty_throughout_all_the_land_unto_all_the_inhabitants_thereof
Quotation 1- Excerpt from President Abraham Lincoln’s Reply to an Open Letter from Horace Greeley, New
York Tribune, 1862 http://www.edline.net/files/_DMF17_/2a87c9edb0c248bf3745a49013852ec4/Freedom_from_Above_or_Below_Documents.pdf
Quotation 2- The Emancipation Proclamation, January 1, 1863 (Excerpts) http://www.edline.net/files/_DMF17_/2a87c9edb0c248bf3745a49013852ec4/Freedom_from_Above_or_Below_Documents.pdf
Quotation 3- President Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865 (Excerpts) http://www.edline.net/files/_DMF17_/2a87c9edb0c248bf3745a49013852ec4/Freedom_from_Above_or_Below_Documents.pdf
