150 years ago today

Having about 47 minutes left of July 27th, I figured I'd post about the sesquecentennial that most people don't really know about.

Today is the day that President Abraham Lincoln shared his thoughts and plans for the emancipation proclamation with his cabinet. It will not be issued until after the battle of Antietam in september of 1862, because without a military victory and force of arms, all the proclamation will be is empty words with no worth whatsoever.

This will change policy for the United States, both politically and militarily, and will change the entire course of the war. Not only is this a shrewd move politically, it will change the social, emotional, and spiritual landscape of the war.

Politically, this will alienate some of the war democrats who, at this stage in the game, do not have the abolition of slavery on their priority list, and the same goes for some factions of the republican party as well. Furthermore, it will effectively deny the British any reason whatsoever for entering the war on the side of the Confederacy, and therefore disable the French war effort, due to their preference to not go to war in America without British cooperation.

Socially, this will split the population of the United States. People in the New England area, extending into Pennsylvania will applaud this measure, while folks from New York and the mid-west will look upon it with anything from suspicion to anger, especially in the newer immigrant populations such as the Irish, who believe that the new work force of emancipated African Americans will take away their low paying jobs and wages.

Emotionally and spiritually, the proclamation will swing the mood, based off of the social aspect. Gruadually, people will once again be behind the war effort to subdue the south and free four million people. Northerners will view themselves as God's chosen people to "proclaim liberty throughout the land", and "bring the people out of Egypt". Southerners will have pretty much the opposite point of view, in that they see Lincoln as Pharoe, and themselves as Israelites making their own promised land (for white people only, of course).


This proclamation will also change the duties of the soldier in the United States Army.
His duties will change from being a reuniter to being a liberator.

From being a soldier who is trying to reunite a torn nation and leaving 4 million people in captivity, he will become a soldier whose job it is to shatter 4 million sets of chains, to eliminate 4 million scars of the lash.

This is a huge turning point in the war, and one everyone can be thankful for.
Any way, figured I'd post a little something on here for it.