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C-SPAN > C-SPAN in the Classroom > The Emancipation Proclamation

Presidential Powers during War Time:
Abraham Lincoln & the Emancipation Proclamation

On January 1, 1863 President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. It declared that "all persons held as slaves" within states rebelling against the United States "are, and henceforward shall be free...." It has been said that with this proclamation President Lincoln accomplished two of his war objectives. First, he redefined the war as a struggle about freedom; and, second, as commander-in-chief, he weakened the Confederacy by freeing its slaves and, then, recruiting them into the Union military forces.

Watch the four clips below and then answer the discussion questions.
Clip 1 (37 sec.) Author Joseph Stevens discusses how President Lincoln redefined the meaning of the Civil War in 1863.	Clip 2 (42 sec.) Historian James Horton explains President Lincoln�s basis for declaring the Confederate states' rebellion illegal.	Clip 3 (1 min. 30 sec.) Historians Harold Holzer and James Horton address presidential powers and the Emancipation Proclamation.	Clip 4 (1 min.) Author Joseph Stevens discusses how the Emancipation Proclamation hurt the South militarily.
Discussion Questions 1. How did President Lincoln "define" the Civil War? 2. Why do you think President Lincoln waited until after the Union victory at Antietam, a turning point in the war, to issue the Emancipation Proclamation? 3. Did President Lincoln have the power to issue the Emancipation Proclamation? Did he have the authority to declare slaves, who were considered property in 1863, to be free? 4. Did Lincoln made appropriate use of his powers as President by issuing the Emancipation Proclamation?