Nonsense for Notice

Who 'gave' freedom to enslaved Americans? Did freedom come from above or below? That was the essential question of the week. ‘Above’, in this case, means that freedom was able to come about for the slaves because of actions of those on top of the social pyramid. This includes Military officers, the President, and other high status individuals. Freedom from ‘below’ refers to the slaves themselves taking control of the situation and gaining freedom by their actions.  To see if freedom was given from above or from below we analyzed documents of Abraham Lincoln from different stages of the war, and read about slaves actions they took for their freedom. Also we looked at two different pictures that depicted how the slaves got their freedom. One picture indicated freedom from above and the other from below. These pictures were used to get us thinking about which side really did give the freedom. 

This picture shows Lincoln giving freedom from 'above' to the slaves.

This picture shows slaves rejoicing after struggling for their freedom. This illustrates freedom from below.

Some documents that we looked at indicated freedom from above while others indicated freedom from below. Most of the Lincoln documents indicated freedom from above. For example, in the Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln states that he considers slaves to be free. The Emancipation Proclamation did not actually free any slaves, however this proclamation did create a segue for freeing the slaves in the future from the power of ‘above’.  Another example is from “Excerpt from President Abraham Lincoln’s Reply to an Open Letter from Horace Greeley, New York Tribune, 1862”. Lincoln wrote, “...I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men everywhere could be free.” Again, while this did not actually free any slaves it foreshadowed that somewhere down the line Congress would grant slaves their freedom.

While these documents suggested that the freedom came from above, other sources strongly suggested that the freedom more likely came from below.In the Letter from General Ambrose E. Burnside to Secretary of War , General Ambrose E. Burnside talks about fugitive slaves that are looting the city and taking up residence. The General asks congress what to do with them saying, “ I hope to report to you a definite policy in reference to this matter, and in the mean time shall be glad to receive any instructions upon the subject which you may be disposed to give”. The slaves did these things to get the attention they wanted. They made themselves an annoyance to the Generals so that the Generals would have no choice but to write to Congress for help. This then made Congress pay attention to the fugitive slaves. This was the outcome the slaves were striving for. We also analyzed an engraving called “Slaves from the plantation of Confederate President Jefferson Davis arrive at Chickasaw Bayou, Mississippi,”This engraving shows slaves making an annoyance of themselves, yet again, to the townspeople. They do this so that the townspeople note it and ask higher up status what to do. By getting the attention of higher up power that meant that a change could possibly happen, and in the slaves case the change was their freedom.

Engraving of the slaves in the town

I believe that any type of social change comes from the people below. While in legal issues, like the freedom of slaves, the overall freedom legally happens from above. But, if the slaves and people below did not make a nuisance out of themselves and got to the attention of above no changes would occur. If there is no problem or action taken in society then the people above do not have anything to change. Social change still happens today. In Baltimore there is a big conflict with the police force after unlawful deaths of black men in the community by police. People are rioting to get attention from above so adjustments can be made to the possible racial issues with the police in their town. These riots have certainly grabbed the attention of Congress who is trying to find a solution. Like I said before, the legal action of change happens from above but there would be no change if the people from below did not protest and make their issues known. This is just one of the many examples of the average people from 'below' rising up and making a change happen.