This lesson was titled, "Freedom from Above or Below." The essential question for this lesson is, “Who ‘gave’ freedom to enslaved Americans? Did freedom come from above or below? To what extent were Abraham Lincoln’s actions influenced by the actions of enslaved Americans?” The first activity we completed in class was screenshotting the picture titled, “Freedom to the Slaves.” We then used the app, Skitch, to insert speech bubbles for each person in the picture to accurately display the role of each person. We then discussed the social pyramid of American society at the start of the Civil War. We defined “freedom from above” as when freedom is given to enslaved people high in the social pyramid. My class then defined “freedom from below” as when people from the same lower ranking level in the social pyramid helped each other to try and gain freedom. We were then split into small groups and each assigned one of the four Lincoln Documents. For our document, we had to find a quote that explained the author’s goal of the war, position on freeing slaves, and evidence of their personal feelings on slavery. After each group completing this assignment, we shared our findings with the class. We also watched two videos that went along with the first two documents. Each group was then given either document X or Y and answered the questions, “What is going on in your primary source?”, “Who is taking action? Why?”, and “Does the document prove freedom from above or freedom from below?” We then ended the lesson by taking notes on the thirteenth amendment and how this amendment formally abolished slavery. Freedom came from both above and below. Abraham Lincoln’s actions were highly influenced by the actions of enslaved Americans.
Freedom was given to enslaved people from above in some situations. In this picture, “Freedom to the Slaves”, we see that Abraham Lincoln is depicted as having freed this man and his family from slaves. Since Lincoln came from a high social class, this is freedom came from above. In an excerpt from President Abraham Lincoln’s Reply to an Open Letter from Horace Greeley, New York Tribune, 1862, the President states the following, “I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men everywhere could be free.” Lincoln’s goal is to save the Union, and if that means he needs to abolish slavery he will do so. By stating this, Lincoln is helping give freedom to slaves from above. We then watched a video on the Emancipation Proclamation. At the beginning of the war in 1863, the Confederates were winning. Lincoln’s plan was to wait until the Union won several battles, and then he would announce the Emancipation Proclamation. This way it would look like the Union, the winning side, had a strong reason for winning the war, instead of the losing side’s last desperate action. In the Emancipation Proclamation given on January 1, 1863, Lincoln declares, “all persons held as slaves within any state or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.” The Emancipation Proclamation is a strong example of Freedom from above, as Lincoln is declaring freedom to slaves in all states. After the Civil War, the thirteenth amendment was passed. Lincoln approved this document and the amendment became part of the constitution. The thirteenth amendment made the Emancipation Proclamation permanent. The thirteenth amendment is another example of freedom from above. In the Gettysburg Address, given on November 19, 1863, Lincoln says the following, “Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” This famous quote states that Lincoln strove to give freedom to all slaves. President Abraham Lincoln gave freedom to enslaved people from above.
This is a picture of Lincoln freeing a man and his family.
Freedom was often given to enslaved people from below. this image is of a statue. This statue seems to depict a man rising and claiming freedom. This is one example of freedom from below because no one from above helped this man, except the person he is putting his hand on. We can assume that this person is another slave or from a low social class. We also watched a video on fugitive slaves and how they influenced the government and Lincoln’s actions on slavery. Every fugitive slave that made a nuisance of himself eventually made a nuisance of himself at the Congress of the United States. This is because fugitive slaves bothered the officers of northern armies. The generals wrote to the War Department asking what to do with the slaves. The War Department eventually writes to Congress who eventually wrote to the President. This is another example of freedom from below. In President Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, given on March 4, 1865, he states the following, “These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that this interest was somehow the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents would rend the Union even by war, while the Government claimed no right to do more than restrict the territorial enlargement of it.” Lincoln explains in this quote that slaves are also trying to gain freedom by themselves. In a Letter from General Ambrose E. Burnside to Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton on March 21, 1862, he asks Stanton what to do about the slaves that are looting the town. Theses slaves are making a nuisance out of themselves, and they’re are eventually going to be making a nuisance of themselves to the Congress. By doing so, the slaves are gaining freedom from below. In the engraving titled, “Slaves from the plantation of Confederate President Jefferson Davis arrive at Chickasaw Bayou, Mississippi” in 1863, we see that the soldiers are busy preparing for battle and then a mass of slaves show up at the camp. We can assume that these slaves have arrived to try to get freedom for themselves. Slaves gain freedom from below by taking control themselves. By taking control of the situation, the actions of the slaves influenced Lincoln to take certain actions himself as explained in the paragraph above.
This is an example of freedom from below.
This is a picture of soldiers and a mass of slaves.
During the Civil War, the concept of freedom from above and below is seen in slavery. These concepts are still seen today. For example, Bruce Jenner recently announced that he will have surgery to change from a man to a woman. In an interview, he made it clear that he is having this surgery to raise awareness for gender identity, not for the fame. This is a largely broadcasted event that will change society. I think that this change is initiated from above, by Bruce Jenner because he is from a high ranking social class. However, I also think that the only way for this social change to be upheld, is for ordinary people to take action, as well, and continue this change from below.
