Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/emancipation-proclamation
It was only for the last few hundred years, since the end of the American Civil War, that we as Christians view slavery as evil. However, Christians have argued for centuries over the justification of slavery. Pro-slavery Christians had plenty of Bible verses to support their point, which I discussed in my last post. The abolitionist Christians who opposed slavery, were vilified and opposed by other Christians. For their time, the abolitionists would have been considered progressive and the pro slavery Christians would have been considered conservative.
Until the Civil War, the abolitionists argued for decades why God is against slavery in the modern age. The abolitionists pointed out in scriptures that God commands us to "love one another" in John 13:34 or "All people are created in God's image" in Genesis 1:26. Other scripture verses they use to support their argument are Galatians 3:28 "There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."
Abolitionist sentiment found its home in the northern Union states of America. Horror stories of the terrible treatment that the slaves went through aroused sympathy among the people in the north. Britain had already banned slavery in 1834 way before America did. The abolitionist movement had much momentum leading up to the Civil War.
However, the Confederate states which were driven by greed still insisted on keeping slavery. The Confederates used the Bible to justify their pro-slavery views. Many Bible believing Christians in the Confederate army were ready to fight and die for their beliefs. The belief that God endorses slavery.
The election of Abraham Lincoln caused the Confederate states to succeed from the Union, because of his anti-slavery statements before becoming elected. Even though Abraham Lincoln was an abolitionist, he still had doubts about fighting the Civil War to end slavery, when the war started. The original objective was to preserve the Union and punish the rebels states. Lincoln wondered if God was wanting him to fight this war to end slavery.
Abraham Lincoln prayed, thought for a long time and discussed privately with his cabinet members, before issuing the Emancipation Proclamation. This was the decree that slaves in Confederate states are now free.
Before Lincoln issued the decree freeing the slaves, he asked God for a sign. In my next post, I'll talk about about the sign he received, to which he said "God has decided the question on favor of the slaves."
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