Barriers to A War of Abolition and Self- Emancipation

Union war aims didn’t include emancipation or abolition at first * some “radical” Republicans wanted a war against slavery * Lincoln and most other federal officials were unconvinced
key constitutional and political obstacles: * Constitution sanctioned chattel slavery and guaranteed private property * $chattel slavery:$ most common form of slavery known to Americans which allowed people (considered legal property), to be bought, sold, and owned, forever * President and Congress couldn’t abolish slavery themselves * constitutional amendment necessary * most of northern public didn’t support abolition * US government needed to maintain loyalty of Border South states
Union policy at first: non-interference * no aid to runaways * respect civilian property (including slaves)

$self-emancipation:$ act of an enslaved person freeing him or herself from the bondage of slavery
500,000 people fled slavery during the war * many traveled to Union lines * they forced Union leaders to act
Union leaders gradually embraced emancipation as a war strategy * first, via decisions by field officers (often overturned) * later, in official policies by Congress and War Department

May 1861, Fortress Monroe, VA * 3 enslaved men fled work on rebel fortifications near Hampton Roads * requested US Army’s protection
General Benjamin Butler declared them “contraband of war” and refused to return them to the rebels * key legal loophole: enslaved labor was a Confederate war resource * could be legally seized
May 30, 161, war department formalized Butler’s decision
first in a long chain of federal policy measures
limited scope: * only for people fleeing work on rebel war efforts * “contrabands” weren’t freed: used as labor for the US Army
by June 1861, 900+ enslaved people had fled to the Fortress Monroe
the “Grand Contraband Camp” at Fortress Monroe * 25,000 residents by 1865 (5th largest city in rebel states * largest of many similar sites