The Struggle of Civil Rights

Ashleigh Berg

29 Oct 2015

The True Struggle of Civil Rights

        Some Civil War historians still today argue over who was really responsible for

the Emancipation Proclamation? As we go back in time Civil War Historian James M. McPherson from Princeton University stresses the political genius of Abraham Lincoln, arguing that Lincoln played a crucial role in engineering three revolutions during the Civil War, one of which was the abolition of slavery.^[1] Lincoln juggled conflicting pressures and politicians on the issue of slavery. But when it came to the movment toward emancipation of all black Americans, from there on out everything was unstoppable. However, a group of scholars led by Ira Berlin, ...argues in contrast that the responsibility for the Emancipation Proclamation lies with the slaves themselves... Lincoln ultimately became known as the great Emancipator. But his legacy would have not occurred, Professor Berlin  and his colleagues believe, had it not been for the African Americans forcing the issue.^[2]

        Acts of Congress, Lincoln and the Union Army were viewed as a confirmation, as an official validation of something the slaves initiated it themselves. People of color agitated for change within laws and society, and in within time, they both secured those changes. It was not just one or the other, but both were necessary to truly effect changes in America.

        Sometimes we have to ask ourselves are we a country of freedom or a country ruled by the unknown? But Abraham Lincoln showed he was a mild opponent of slavery and a moderate defender of racial discrimination. By a dynamic analysis, he held a concept of humanity which impelled him inexorably in the direction of freedom and equality. If we cannot give freedom to every creature, let us do nothing that will impose slavery upon any other creature.^[3]

        Lincoln had conflicting values, like most of us. Unlike most of us, he came pretty quickly to see that this was completely unacceptable, and he acted decisively to end slavery and to successfully integrate the United States after the war. That was in 1862, when he wrote the Emancipation Proclamation.

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