Why do people think Abe Lincoln freed the slaves?

[JamesB]

Um...um...No. First, Lincoln was the one who had the idea of giving slaves freedom. He did the grunt work and the majority of the work that led to the abolishing of slavery in America.Many people like Frederick Douglass promoted the abolishing of slavery, but he didnt have any power to do so, but Lincoln had power to change the laws and gave a voice to other abolistionist during that time period. Johnson did nothing to expand the freedom of slaves by doing a terrible job on the Reconstruction and allowing the South to go back their old ways and create the Jim Crow laws that still made blacks unacceptable in the society until more than a century later a King came and brought America to the Promise Land that Lincoln almost did but died.

[KyleC]

Johnson did Lincoln did not. Why is it a misconception?

[lilac]

Lincoln is the one who accept the emancipation proclamation

[throwdini1977]

It really depends on the question that you are asking. The Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 freed all of the slaves in the Confederate States of America; however, it could not be enforced until the Union Generals actually reached the area. What you are speaking of is the 13th Amendment which made all slaves legally free. However credit there belongs more to Congress than Johnson. The Emancipation Proclamation, though, was an--actually two--Executive Order by Lincoln.

You can also look at this question a third way and say with the increase of sex-slavery in this country, we have not yet reached a point where all slaves are free.