The Union could claim a military victory after the epic bloodshed of Antietam, and President Abraham Lincoln took the opportunity to announce his preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.
Lincoln had been working on his proclamation during the summer of 1862. And on September 22, 1862, Lincoln announced that slaves in the rebellious states would be declared free as of January 1, 1863.
Even after Lincoln signed his executive order on New Year's Day, the proclamation would be something of a symbolic gesture, in the sense that it would only take effect in territory conquered by the Union Army. But it was still a monumental shift in government policy, and while newspapers were heavily dominated by the news of Antietam, September's preliminary proclamation received notable coverage.
- New York Tribune, September 23, 1862: At the end of a story explaining the new proclamation, Horace Greeley's newspaper proclaimed, "God Bless Abraham Lincoln!"
- New York Tribune, September 24, 1862: An eloquent editorial, most likely written by Horace Greeley himself, lauded the proclamation. The president "re-creates a nation" said the Tribune. "Slavery is the root of the rebellion; he digs it up by the roots."
- The National Republican, September 24, 1862: A Washington, D.C., newspaper collected reaction from the various anti-Lincoln New York City papers, which were dismissive of the president's proclamation.
- Cleveland Plain Dealer, September 25, 1862: A leading paper in Ohio reprinted an editorial from the New York Times, which spoke of the wisdom of the proclamation while also hopefully speculating that the war itself would be concluded by the end of the year.
Note: After visiting the newspaper excerpt links above, click on the "persistent link" at the Chronicling America site to see the entire newspaper page.
Illustration: Horace Greeley/Library of Congress
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Comments
Back when I associated with Civil War reenactors, I was always amazed when some of the more hardline of my fellow “Southrons” would “rediscover” the wording of the Emancipation Proclamation and “reveal” it as “simply” a political ploy and therefore somehow of less importance. I was introduced to Lincoln’s exceptional proclamation in my first public school Texas history class back in the 1950s, and even as a child growing in the then-segregated South I recognized what an important and truly clever work it is. In one bold move, Lincoln announced the pending end to slavery in the US without risking the loss of those slave states still within the Union and also ensured the British government–and therefore France–would never recognize the Conferacy as a separate nation. With that proclamation, he also elevated the Civil War from a fight to preserve the Union–as vital as that once–to the higher goal of freedom for all. Lincoln was a hellofa politician–one brave enough and smart enough to do the right thing.