By Dr. Theman R. Taylor, Sr., Special NDG Contributing Writer
It has been one hundred and fifty years since the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, issued a preliminary copy of the Emancipation Proclamation, after the Battle of Antietam, September 22, 1862, declaring, “…all persons held as slaves within any state or designated part of a state, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then thenceforward, and forever free’, free as the first day January 1863.” (The Confederates name for the battle was the Sharpsburg Battle) This Proclamation was scheduled to become effective January 1, 1863.
True to his promise, the popular and often controversy president, issued the official and final copy of the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. We should note the Proclamation did not impact enslaved Africans held in states not rebelling against the United States -Maryland, Delaware, Kentucky and Missouri – they remained slaves! The Proclamation suggested one can not own another human being, unless one is loyal to the United States.
As Commander in Chief of the military, this Proclamation issued by Lincoln, 149 years later is still at the forefront of controversy because of the lack of agreement on the intent and meaning of the Proclamation. For example, did the Proclamation free some slaves in the United States as some celebration suggest, or did the Proclamation maintain slavery in states considered loyal, or with the prospect of losing the war, was the Proclamation an attempted bribe for the Confederate States to stop rebelling, lay down their arms and keep their slaves or was the Proclamation a military measure to end the fighting and killing among Americans for the preservation of the United States of America?
Let’s examine Lincoln’s action and behavior and the celebration attributed to him. The policy pursued by him in August 1862 was, “My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or destroy slavery.”
After elaborating on his point he went on to state that, as Commander in Chief he had the right “to take any measure which may best subdue the enemy.” To allay southern fears, in his first inaugural address, he made it clear he would not interfere with slavery where it existed in the United States. In fact, he felt he had no legal right to do so! His job was to protect the constitution not violate it. An amendment to the constitution was required, considering that said constitution from its inception, did not mention the word (slavery) in the document until it was abolished, thus, said constitution recognized, encouraged and protected the institution of slavery! The Republican Party’s platform were opposed to the expansion of slavery, however, the President felt the competition with slavery would have a negative impact on free White labor in the new territories.
We should also know that on the issue of political and social equality, Lincoln was opposed to allowing Blacks the right to vote, serving as jurors as well as holding public office. In his words, “There was an immutable physical barrier of color and probably of mental and moral inferiority separating the Black and White races,” and “Black men were certainly not his equal in color.”
Lincoln believed in compensated emancipation with the owners approval, he had a strong distaste for the abolitionist and the abolitionist movement, but felt Blacks were to be included under “all men” in the Declaration of Independence by the Founders, not equal in all respect! No race-mixing, especially interracial procreation. According to Lincoln, if freed, the races must be kept apart to prevent the mixing of the bloods.
One of his solutions to the race problem was colonization. This policy was a solution advocated earlier by the 3rd President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson. In fact many of Lincoln’s views on race, racism and politics were advocated previously by the 3rd President of the United States as outline in his Notes On The State of Virginia.
According to the Jefferson, Blacks and Whites cannot live together in the United States. If freed Blacks must go, deep-rooted prejudice by Whites remembering of injuries suffered by Blacks, would produce confusion for both groups; they could never get together, he suggested.
In August 1862, one month before issuing his preliminary copy of the Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln summoned the so-called leaders of the Black community to the White House and revealed another one of his plans. He told the group that money had been appropriated by Congress to colonize their kind outside the United States. The President further stated that the physical differences between the races and the problems created made racial harmony unacceptable and impossible.
The Presidents’ colonization plea divided Blacks, some left under the country under the plan, and some returned but for the most part Lincoln’s plan to make ex-slaves equal in another country, whereas he could not do so in his own, was a complete failure.
This information raises the question of why Lincoln is showered with praise and, of course, why he is associated in a positive manner with the JUNETEENTH celebration! Why?
The story goes that the celebration of freedom began with the arrival in Galveston, Texas on June 19, 1865 of a little known military person, General Gordon Granger (1822-1876) armed with an alleged executive document, General Orders Number 3, citing the end of slavery in Texas. Was the military officer citing the Emancipation Proclamation? It was not an executive order signed by President Lincoln, he was shot on the 14th of April 1865, and died the following day, April 15, on Good Friday.
The controversy continues, but at any rate the response of Blacks to the military officer was joyous and with great praise! They were overtaken by the news of their ‘so-called’ liberation. It is a strangeness, and most perplexing, by numerous African American historians and scholars, that, often, we are so easily led, so eager to believe, so blinded by praise, even if from those who have shown us ill-will and caused us to die needlessly and be treated like ignorant bystanders to history.
Ah, in the spirit of freedom, in the modern era, Lincoln and his Emancipation Proclamation is praised because for those who do not study or seek knowledge via our own books. It set us FREE! Nevertheless the 19th of June or the JUNETEENTH celebration is a CELEBRATION of FREEDOM.
Let’s look at some things we should know:
•Slavery was officially abolished in the United States when the 39th Congress ratified the 13th Amendment in DECEMBER 1865. (This author is GRATEFUL that the Confederate States of America rejected the attempted BRIBE of President Lincoln: that if they ‘stop fighting, lay down your arms, come back before January 1, 1863 and you can keep your slaves’.)
•Abraham Lincoln and his Emancipation Proclamation did not free slaves in America.
•Texans should stop implying this falsehood and surely not teach it in our community center, our churches, our organizations and our schools.
•There is no place in our lives for ‘feel good history.’ And surely there is no justification for the term “FATHER Abraham” in reference to the 16th President of the United States.
•In June 1865, Texas was not part of the United States!
Over the opposition of Governor Sam Houston, (who has the unique distinction of being the only person to be governor of two states), and in February 1861 an Ordinance of Secession was adopted by the Texas Lawmakers. The people voted in favor of approval and in March 1861 Texas succeeded from the United States and became along with ten other states, a part of the Confederate States of America.
In June 1865, when the General rode into the Galveston Texas area, he had no official jurisdiction, Texas were not part of the United States. Texas, like other former Confederate States, except Tennessee, had to comply with the Reconstruction Act of 1867 and other laws passed while they were not a part of the Union, in order to return to the United States. They did, and around 1870 they were full partners again in the United States of America. An ancestral freedom celebration is a worthy project undertaken, however we must be careful that we do not contribute to the continuance of our own ignorance.
HELL TO THE CHIEF, ABRAHAM LINCOLN – THE 16TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, AND HONOR AND CELEBRATE THE EFFORTS OF OUR ANCESTORS
Wow. This was an interesting read. I only knew some of the facts, and I knew that Lincoln didn’t set all slaves free, but this puts a grand perspective on things. It is only necessary to celebrate Juneteenth in the correct manner and reason, freedom. May I ask were did you cite the information? Thanks.
I think this article is shallow and incomplete. Yes, Lincoln said those things but it was in an attempt to win the presidency and preserve the union. The pressures of his own party and the race for the presidency pushed him to make statements he never made before in contradiction of his earlier position. In this, he is no different than Kennedy on integration, the president on immigration, or Mitt Romney on healthcare. Did Lincoln view equality the way we do today? Certainly not. Was he the key in freedom for our people and preservation of the country? Absolutely! Like most leaders, Lincoln had to be radicalized by conflict. He ‘grew’ into the president who freed the slaves. He did not start out that way. Our forefathers were not ignorant. They knew who to credit for their freedom. Lincoln wasn’t assassinated because he did nothing.
So you believe Lincoln’s feelings toward the plight of the slaves significantly changed during the two years between releasing the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863 and his death in April, 1865?
In considering your comment, I found this extensive article to be quite interesting and suggest you consider the closing section on “Lincoln’s Fear of a Race War.” http://www.ihr.org/jhr/v13/v13n5p-4_Morgan.html —- the article is very clear and includes reference to his efforts days before his death to continue pursuit of colonizing the freed slaves outside of America.
Also, this quote from Frederick Douglas in 1876 provides his view of President Lincoln:
Certainly President Lincoln was the key to the freedom of the slaves and the preservation of the nation. However, I feel one of the key objectives of Dr. Taylor’s article is to dispel the romanticized version of how we view Lincoln. What harm is there in providing a broader view of Lincoln because his record clearly shows there is a disconnect between this mythical view we have of him and his actual views on how to handle the slavery situation.
Also, it was never Dr. Taylor’s intention – or this paper’s – to suggest our African American forefathers were ignorant. However, they certainly did not have access to the level of information which we do today. Furthermore the ignorance the article attempts to address is that of our community today.
Thank you for your feedback D. Wilson. I will be happy to pass on your request to Dr. Taylor. As a retired historian, Dr. Taylor has studied our history for years. In the meantime, I would recommend you also take a look at pages 15-16 of our February 16, 2012 issue when published Dr. Taylor’s article
A suggested book list for Black History Month and beyond. He shared with me earlier this week, this listing were titles from his personal library.