USA HISTORY

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR(1861 1865)

THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION

[SOURCES]
Read the 8th paragraph of the Emancipation Proclamation. Based on the information in this paragraph, which of the following can you infer?

(A) President Lincoln knew that the former slaves would be good soldiers.

(B) Many feared that there would not be many former slaves in a suitable condition to enlist.

(C) ** The Union was in need of soldiers, so they were encouraging everyone who could enlist to do so.

(D) President Lincoln feared that there would be many former slaves who were not willing to enlist in the military.

EXPLANATIONS BELOW

Concept note-1: -The Union Army responded to the Emancipation Proclamation by almost immediately recruiting and enlisting thousands of former slaves into the ranks of the army. Over the course of the war, some 200, 000 African-American soldiers served in the Union army. The vast majority of these forces were ex-slaves.

Concept note-2: -By freeing slaves in the Confederacy, Lincoln was actually freeing people he did not directly control. The way he explained the Proclamation made it acceptable to much of the Union army. He emphasized emancipation as a way to shorten the war by taking Southern resources and hence reducing Confederate strength.

Concept note-3: -From the first days of the Civil War, enslaved people had acted to secure their own liberty. The Emancipation Proclamation confirmed their insistence that the war for the Union must become a war for freedom. It added moral force to the Union cause and strengthened the Union both militarily and politically.