War, freedom, and a nation reconsidered

Abstract

Abstract This chapter explores the tensions that undergird the South’s secession from the Union and then the outbreak of the Civil War. Abraham Lincoln is often referred to as “the Great Emancipator,” but his journey toward the Emancipation Proclamation was not straight. Political pragmatism, military manpower shortages, as well as philosophical wrestling with what freedom would mean for African Americans all affected Lincoln’s decision to move toward emancipation. Upon the war’s conclusion important issues had to be resolved regarding African American labor, education, and citizenship rights. Reconstruction marked a marked a high-water mark for post-emancipation black rights, some of which were not seen again until the emergence of the modern civil rights movement.