Lincoln, "Great Emancipator"?

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masterofwined

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I must debate that Lincoln is NOT the great emancipator, unfortunately the emancipation proclamation and the thirteenth amendment seem to suggest he really is genuinely the great emancipator.

What is some good evidence that Lincoln wasn't the great emancipator other than "the emancipation proclamation didn't free all the slaves"
 
That while not officially a "slave" any longer the life of the average former slave was anything but free. Many slaves had nothing to do but return to work for their former master for pennies a week. Eventually, many were able to sharecrop land from their former masters but that was no picnic. The bank (or their master) still owned the land and they were forced to pay much of what little they earned in interest. Those who could afford to travel north fared better but not by much. They were still second class citizens who were considered "an inferior race". Lynchings were common in the south well into the second half of the twentieth century. There was essentially no protection for the descendants of slaves in the courts or on the streets for a long time. And Lincoln certainly didn't free them from the effects of racism. He was a racist himself who said publicly that he didn't favor equal treatment of the races during the Lincoln Douglas debates.
 
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