The Bottom Got A Boost From The Top

An argument stands in society today regarding the slaves' victory during the civil war: did their freedom come from above or below? In other words, did the slaves earn their own freedom (from below) or was it given to them from a higher power (above)? This week we looked at primary documents that supported different sides of this argument and decided on our own where we believed the freedom was born. 

Freedom From The Top?

At this time Lincoln was the president, so if freedom were to come from above, it would come from him. We read a collection of his speeches which grew to specify his desire to free the slaves. At the beginning of the war, he declared his goal as bringing the union together. In Lincoln's reply to an Open Letter from Horace Greely in 1862, he said, "My paramount object in thus struggle is to save the Union and is not either to save or to destroy slavery." Later in the war Lincoln comes out to clearly state his goal clearly to abolish slavery entirely. In his second inaugural address on March 4th, 1865, Lincoln said, "If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God., must needs come... he now wills to remove." This is saying that he believes slavery needed to happen, and no that it has happened it is his duty to remove it. He's going to work on removing slavery for the slaves- they can just chill out and wait for him to come to their rescue.

Engraving, “Slaves from the plantation of
Confederate President Jefferson Davis arrive at
Chickasaw Bayou, Mississippi,” 1863.

Slaves marching through the glances of military officials.

Or Freedom From The Bottom? 

Aside from Lincoln's subtle desire to end slavery, slaves were taking it upon themselves to earn their freedom. In order to get their point across, slaves forced themselves into present issues, such as marching into territory where military leaders were residing (shown in picture), which brought an urgency to the slave's noncooperation which had to be brought up with he president. They worked their message through the ranks and gained the president's attention. 

The Verdict Is In...

An exaggerated portrayal of a slave worshiping
Lincoln and all he has done as an abolitionist.

I believe slavery came from the top. In addition to Lincoln's efforts shown in the documents we read (described earlier in this post), the efforts of the slaves earning their freedom from below can be credited to the president as well. Although slaves were independent and gained the recognition of the president on their own, it was because of the personal beliefs of their president that their actions were so well received. Since Lincoln was opposed to slavery on his own terms, he supported he slaves actions to free themselves. If he had been personally opposed to abolitionists, he would have used his power to put an end to the slaves' revolts and prevented their message to get as far as it did. Although Lincoln was not looking for praise in response to his actions in assisting the slaves (shown in picture), he should be credited as the major reason slavery was abolished-- therefore, slavery came from the top.