ForeverFree
Major
- Joined
- Feb 6, 2010
- Location
- District of Columbia
What would have happened if Lincoln had not issued the EP?
Would it have made a difference to the Union war effort? The EP enabled the enlistment of ex-slaves into the Union, and tens of thousands of them did serve in the Colored Troops. Would the Union have won the war anyway?
The EP was a promise to free the slaves, and that promise was kept with the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments. But if there had been no EP, would those Amendments have even been proposed or ratified, assuming the Union won?
Patrick Cleburne, in his proposal to free the slaves if they would fight for the Confederacy, said that slaves had gone from being a strength of the CSA to a weakness. He noted that slaves were joining the Union forces, acting as spies and guides, and otherwise helping the Union cause. Was some of that behavior prompted by the EP's promise of freedom?
Would it have made a difference to the Union war effort? The EP enabled the enlistment of ex-slaves into the Union, and tens of thousands of them did serve in the Colored Troops. Would the Union have won the war anyway?
The EP was a promise to free the slaves, and that promise was kept with the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments. But if there had been no EP, would those Amendments have even been proposed or ratified, assuming the Union won?
Patrick Cleburne, in his proposal to free the slaves if they would fight for the Confederacy, said that slaves had gone from being a strength of the CSA to a weakness. He noted that slaves were joining the Union forces, acting as spies and guides, and otherwise helping the Union cause. Was some of that behavior prompted by the EP's promise of freedom?