The Emancipation Proclamation an Imperfect Document

The Emancipation Proclamation that freed the slaves in the southern United States was actually one of a few different Proclamations proposed over the years by the north and south. As to whether Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation was truly an imperfect document depended on whether you were a slave living in the north or south. When the Civil War ended in 1865 if you were a slave living in the south the Emancipation Proclamation distilled- down to General Order No. 3 was the perfect document for you, because it meant you were no longer a slave and that you were free. 

At that same time if you were a slave living in a friendly northern state the Emancipation Proclamation meant nothing to you, and you were not free. Fredrick Douglass and his supporters were aware of the imperfection within Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation so it probably didn't take them long to realize that the slaves were being used as ponds by the politicians, again. 

If Lincoln thought that by threatening the south with the loss of all their slaves if they didn't rejoin the union, it appears that things were a little too far gone by the time states began leaving the union of states. Abraham Lincoln's main job at the beginning of the Civil War was to preserve the union. He could not tell northern union soldiers that they were fighting to free the slave. So his Emancipation Proclamation was worded so that northern slave owners could keep their slaves, but the southern slave owners had to give up theirs.

Frederick Douglass wanted all of the slaves freed, not just some of them. Lincoln wanted what was best for the nation, a nation that was slowly pulling itself apart. Many of his best military officers from the Military Academy were leaving to fight with the southern states. At first, Lincoln rejected Fredrick Douglass' suggestion to let black men fight for the union and their freedom. There were many in congress who were uneasy about arming that many black people.

Abraham Lincoln would not live to see it, but all of the imperfections in the Emancipation Proclamation would be mended with the passage of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments. Black men and women would fight in the Civil War and southern lawmakers would be welcomed back into Washington D.C., and continue to fight for the south. The taking down of confederate monuments has resulted in a backlash against teaching black history in schools so while our unity in this nation may not be perfect, in much the same way, the Emancipation Proclamation wasn't perfect, it's still a lot better than it was in 1865.