OCTOBER 11, 1862:
The
Emancipation Proclamation had a mixed response in the North. Many whites
objected to it, while others embraced it. Still others feared that it would
prove a great motivator to Southern aspirations. The Danville, Vermont North
Star comments on the Southern reaction to the Emancipation Proclamation:
“In another place, we
gave a sketch of the debate and contemplated action of the rebel, the Congress
on the President’s Emancipation proclamation. It will be seen that they propose
severe retaliatory measures, and suggest the policy of raising the “black flag”
or the policy of granting no quarter. This, it is truly said, is a game that
two can play and if adopted by one party, it will probably be the other, thus
adding new horrors to this sanguinary contest. It is to be hoped that neither
side will resort to it: but at best, the President’s proclamation, if carried
out, will tend greatly to exasperate the enemy, and it is to be feared, will
give a barbarous character to the war, which it is hoped might be avoided.
The Richmond Enquirer of
October 1…declares ‘[The Emancipation
Proclamation]… ordain[s] a servile insurrection in the Confederate States and
says it is not misunderstood in the North or South. It is a dash of the pen to
destroy four thousand millions of our property, and is as much as a bid for the
slaves to rise in insurrection, with the assurance of aid from the whole military
and naval power of the United States. It speaks of the cruelty of the
Administration.’”
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