Freedom, How do you obtain it?

Hello readers,

This last week or so my class worked on figuring out if the freedom to slaves was given from above or below. Our essential questions were who gave freedom to enslaved Americans? Did freedom come from above or below? And to what extent were Abraham Lincoln’s actions influenced by the actions of enslaved Americans? These questions were answered day the class going over several primary sources and others. We looked over sources, took notes on them, reviewed them in class, and finally categorized them as freedom from above or below.

There are several documents that we looked at that support the slaves were granted freedom from below. This means that the slaves worked to give themselves freedom and they made it happen. In a letter from General Ambrose E. Burnside to Edwin M. Stanton, the secretary of war, Burnside described the scene in a New England city. The town was being overrun by fugitive slaves. The slaves had escaped slavery and were hiding out in swamps and had taken advantage of the moment to overrun the city and scare everyone off. The slaves were forcing themselves into the war’s attention. We also looked at an engraving which portrayed slaves from a plantation marching into Chickasaw Bayou, Mississippi. The slaves marched right through confederate soldiers. They again pushed themselves into the war and made people look at them and notice them.

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

Although it seems from the last paragraph it is obvious that the slaves forced their own freedom, there is also some proof that the slaves were granted freedom from above. In President Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address Lincoln says that he will grant the slaves freedom. Lincoln says that the slaves were the cause of the war and he must give them freedom to end the war. This is portraying that the slaves were granted freedom from the people above them. Another source we read was an excerpt of a reply from Lincoln to an open letter from Horace Greeley. Lincoln says that he would either free some of them or none of them. This to me makes me think that Lincoln thinks that he is giving freedom to the slaves. Lincoln decides the fate of the slaves.

I believe that the slaves earned their freedom, they made their freedom happen. The slaves made themselves a big part of the war. They had developed a plan to get themselves in the way of the war. Lincoln and others had nothing to do with the freedom of slaves in my opinion. Something like this in our lives today is the LGBT community. They are fighting for their rights every day. The Bruce Jenner interview just came out and he is standing high and proud of his beliefs. The LGBT community deserves to have rights just like everyone else. They have protests and try to keep their rights. Some states though are taking their rights away while others are trying to protect them. History seems to be repeating itself in some ways.

Family Snaps vs. There Must be Blood: More Gay Marriage Protest Optics

Bagnewsnotes.com

http://www.bagnewsnotes.com/2013/03/family-snaps-vs-there-must-be-blood-more-gay-marriage-protest-optics/

Julianna O