Emancipation Proclamation - Essay Example

There have been a lot of changes, documents, rules, leadership, and constitutional amendments that have punctuated the history of United States. Although the exact date of the beginning of the history remains a debatable issue among historians, most sources state it to be between 1492 and 1600. The country that was once a colony of European powers gained its independence on July 4th, 1776; a lot has changed since then. The Emancipation Proclamation was one of these changes. It is arguably in the list of top ten documents that shaped the history of the United States of America. However, this was one report that was met with so much controversy and thus, most misunderstood. To date, it remains unclear to many what emancipation proclamation was. This paper seeks to expound on emancipation proclamation in depth.

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On January 1, 1863, the President of the United States of America issued an executive order called presidential proclamation. Abraham Lincoln, who was then the president, purposed to free all the slaves. During this period, there were more than 3 million slaves who were mainly oriented to the south. Lincoln was for the idea of a free nation, and this move that was to be effected immediately was a significant milestone in seeing to this. The proclamation was not without its challenges, the slaves had become tired of the lifestyle and had decided enough was enough. They were willing to do just about anything to earn the status of a free citizen. They had started a rebellious revolution in the south that soon broke out into a civil war. Lincoln was not pleased with this, and on September 22nd, 1862, he issued a preliminary proclamation. The Southerner's slaves were given three months to stop their rebellion after which the Proclamation would be effected entirely.

The former president of the United States of America, Barrack Obama, declared February a National African-American History Month. In his speech, he said that it is good to remember the activists who were so courageous and determined to steer America from slavery and racial discrimination. Obama, who was the nations first African-American president acknowledged the founding fathers of America and their relentless support to make America a multiracial country. He was specifically excited by how history has bent the arc of the moral universe toward justice. However, it is important to know the black experience and the significant role it played in shaping the politics and culture of United States of America. There are a lot of things that remain unknown to the current day Americans even when they blindly celebrate this month.

From the time the first slave ship docked in America, it is evident that the blacks have been in slavery longer than they have been free. The Emancipation Proclamation was therefore just a mere document that had minimal effect on the slave trade. Below are reasons why the proclamation was just a document, and it was not treated with the seriousness it deserved. First, the proclamation was issued twice meaning it was immediately effected and it was more of a pilot study to see the reaction it would spur among the American people especially the blacks. If Lincoln meant the proclamation to be taken seriously, once would have been enough and he would have seen to its enactment. However, it is evident that even after the second proclamation, the slave trade was still practiced. It felt like there was no proclamation at all because of the underlying reasons that led to its declaration. If this were an area of national importance to the president, he would not have issued a preliminary proclamation nor give an ultimatum for the issuance of the final proclamation. This means that if the blacks were not so relentless in fighting for their rights, the president was not willing to which is a frail leadership attribute.

Secondly, the final proclamation only applied to the states that were rebelling at that time. These countries were mainly oriented in the South. This move shows that the President was not exactly against slave trade but the violence that was spark by the same. A presidential proclamation is more like an act that should be followed by every single person in the country. It is usually a critically thought out, tested and hypothesized idea that is meant for the best interest of the nation. Nevertheless, it only applied to rebelling countries to symbolize that it was not as important. In fact, it was not even a proclamation in the first place, but a means to calm the rebelling blacks.

Finally, the Emancipation Proclamation was not supported nor accepted by Lincolns advisors. The proclamation did not have the support it needed to be effective. When the president first introduced the motion to his cabinet in 1862, he received mixed feelings which were mostly negative. Many cabinet secretaries thought the move was too radical and were it not for Lincolns firm stand on it; the Emancipation Proclamation would have been lost with the wind. Unfortunately, even after the proclamation, its effects remained minimal.