Educating Young People about the Constitution

Presidents and the Constitution Slavery and the Constitution Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation

www.BillofRightsInstitute.org

Presidents and the Constitution Resources

Slavery is a terrible fact of American History. But on both sides of this issue you had people and especially political leaders who believed they could settle or end slavery once and for all.

What you might have done to settle the slavery issue and avoid a civil war.
Directions: Read Dr. Stuart Leibigers essay on pages 68-70. Underline or highlight the facts you think are important.

Slavery and the Constitution

Constitutional Connection Activity

Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation

Critical Engagement Question Did President Abraham Lincoln have the constitutional power to free the slaves in the Confederacy? Objectives Trace the development of Lincolns decision to issue the Emancipation Proclamation. Analyze the Proclamations significance as a turning point in the development of the nation. Evaluate Lincolns understanding of the Emancipation Proclamation as an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution, upon military necessity.

Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation

Background/Homework Handout A: Abraham Lincoln and The Emancipation Proclamation (critical thinking questions next slide)

Map of U.S. states with their allegiances declared

Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation

Critical Thinking Questions 1. In 1861, what did Lincoln say was the primary object of the war? 2. What made Lincoln decide that emancipation was a military necessity? 3. Why did Lincoln refuse to free the slaves until it was a military necessity? 4. How many slaves were freed by the Proclamation? How many former slaves joined the Union side after the Proclamation? 5. In what ways was the Emancipation Proclamation a turning point in the course of the war? 6. See Handout A

Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation

Warm Up Handout B: Setting the Scene Narrator James William President Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln Inauguration, 1861

Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation

Activity In what ways was the Emancipation Proclamation a turning point in the development of the nation?
The act makes clear that the lives of our heroes have not been sacrificed in vain. It makes a victory of our defeats. Ralph Waldo Emerson (1862) [The Emancipation Proclamation was] the central act of my administration [and] the great event of the nineteenth century. President Lincoln (1865) We show our sympathy with slavery by emancipating slaves where we cannot reach them and holding them in bondage where we can set them free. William Seward, Secretary of State (1863) I cannot swallow whole the view of Lincoln as the Great Emancipator. Anyone who actually reads the Emancipation Proclamation knows it was more a military necessity than a clarion call for justice. Senator Barack Obama (2005)

Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation

Activity II What would you have heard if you were in the crowd at Lincolns inauguration? Evaluate the Lincoln presidency in the years: May, 1863 May, 1864 May, 1865

Do Lincolns views stay consistent or change over time?

Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation

Wrap Up And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution, upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind, and the gracious favor of Almighty God. Is this quote: An act of justice? Warranted by the Constitution? A military necessity?

Emancipation Proclamation

Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation

Homework Read the following quote from Lincolns Annual Message to Congress on December 1, 1862. Write two paragraphs explaining the meaning of the following phrases: We cannot escape history
Campaign Poster for Abraham Lincoln 1860

the last best hope of earth

The dogmas of the quiet past, are inadequate to the stormy presentFellow citizens, we cannot escape historyin giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the freehonorable alike in what we give, and what we preserve. We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of Earth.

Extension

Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation

Research Lincoln and his times. Make a timeline to reflect additional significant constitutional questions that arose during the Lincoln Presidency. Consider such issues as: suspension of habeas corpus, presidential pardons, and separation of powers as the President and Congress planned for Reconstruction.