The document compares the Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Lincoln in 1863 that freed slaves in Confederate states to the Russian Emancipation Manifesto issued by Tsar Alexander II in 1861 that freed serfs. Both were issued to modernize their economies - Lincoln also aimed to undermine the Confederacy and Alexander II wanted to prevent peasant uprisings. They granted former slaves and serfs new legal rights and freedoms but also posed economic issues for slave/serf owners who lost their workforce.

1. Comparing the
Emancipation
Proclamation to the
Russian
Emancipation
Manifesto
By Ashley Tango

3. The Emancipation Proclamation was issued
by President Abraham Lincoln on January
1, 1863. The Proclamation directly freed all
slaves residing in the Confederate States.
President Lincoln was the president of the
Union of the United States of America.
Lincoln personally disagreed with the idea
of slavery, and he was disgusted by the
degradation of humans based on ace.
Lincoln also believed that it was his duty
sent from God to abolish slavery.
Additionally, Lincoln’s decision to free
slaves was a military tactic that allowed the
Union army an increase of numbers.
Following the proclaimed freedom of
slaves, Lincoln welcomed the freed slaves
into his army to help end the Civil War
going on in America.

4. The Russian Emancipation
Manifesto was issued by Tsar
Alexander II on February
19, 1861. Alexander II was
the emperor of Russia at the
time. The emperor wanted to
liberate serfs in order to
modernize Russian economy
without dealing with the
peasants’ unrest. He brought
up the idea of abolishing
serfdom in order to avoid
uprisings among the serfs.

5. Slavery began in the 17th century
when the first African slaves
were brought into America to be
sold to slave owners. Slaves
were treated as property, and
slave owners were allowed to
buy, sell, and do whatever they
wanted to their slaves. If a slave
disobeyed his or her owner, it
was not unusual for the slave to
be whipped or beaten to teach
that slave a lesson. Slaves were
often put to work on plantations
in which the slaves’ manual labor
would produce profits for the
plantation owner. In the
1860s, United States had
approximately four million
slaves at the time.

6. Serfdom became widespread in Russia in the 13th century following Tartar devastation. Thousands of
Russians became homeless and were forced to settle on the land of wealthy Russian landowners in which the
feudal system began to take hold. A serf is defined as a peasant who lives under the political system of
feudalism. The peasant is similar to the slave in how they are tied to the land of a landowner who also owns
the right to that peasant’s existence. The difference between slaves and serfs is that serfs were local Russians
and essentially the landowners were enslaving their own people. In America, slaves were imported from other
countries and were not considered “American.” Ultimately serfs were given land to own, but could not leave
the area they were born in and had to perform tasks for the “good of the community." In 1649 the Code of
Law made all serfs essentially slaves, and by the mid 19th century Russia had twenty three million privately
owned serfs.

7. At the time of the issuing of the
Emancipation Proclamation, the
United States was engaged in a
Civil War. The Union, led by
Abraham Lincoln, and the
Confederacy, led by Jefferson
Davis, were battling over the
cause of slavery. Under
Lincoln’s presidency, southern
states worried that he would try
to abolish slavery. South
Carolina was the first to
secede, and several other states
followed soon after. The War
was the nation-wide battle to
decide the existence of
slavery, and it is the sole reason
that Abraham Lincoln presented
the Emancipation Proclamation.
By emancipating the
slaves, Lincoln would not only
receive more numbers for his
army, but he would have a
peace of mind for stopping the
horrible condition of blacks in
the Confederate States.

8. Before the Russian Emancipation Manifesto was passed in 1861, Russia was defeated by
England, France, and Turkey in the Crimean War. Clair W. Keller describes the defeat when
she says it “showed Russia’s military weakness, the country’s backwardness, and exposed the
economic, administrative, and social ineptness of Russia’s autocratic regime.” Keller is
expressing what Emperor Alexander II was feeling: that change was needed in Russia. Due to
the loss of the Crimean War, Alexander knew that change was desperately needed to improve
Russia, and he specifically wanted to modernize Russian economy. Knowing that the peasant
class would be upset with a change in economy, the emperor proposed the idea of abolishing
serfdom to avoid peasant uprisings in the country. The idea was approved, and the Russian
Emancipation Manifesto was created.

9. Following the Emancipation Proclamation, several freedoms were granted to slaves.
Firstly, all slaves in the Confederate States were freed, and Lincoln stated that “the military
and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons and
will do no act or acts to repress such persons.” By this, Lincoln is saying that the US
military will ensure the freedom of the freed slaves. Also, Lincoln proposes in the
Emancipation Proclamation that the freed slaves join the military in which they would
participate in armed services of the United States garrison forts, positions, stations, and other
places they could be needed. The Emancipation Proclamation did free slaves in the
Confederate States, but one disadvantage that came from the document is that it did not
ultimately free slaves in the Union.

10. The passing of the Russian Emancipation Manifesto granted serfs several liberties that they did
not have previously. The terms of the Emancipation Manifesto granted serfs freedom and gave
them the right to own one third of their previous owner’s land. The newly freed peasants would
pay for the land by either giving one fourth of the price to the original owner on installments or
give three fourths of the price to the government over a forty nine year period. An Office of
Peasant Affairs was created to help enforce the new rules set by Alexander II that would help
improve the lives of serfs. The Emancipation Manifesto ultimately improved the lives of
peasants and abolished serfdom in Russia. The nobles and land owners ultimately were at a loss
due to the document because they had to give up their land and workers.

11. Pictography
“Russian Serfs.” Drawing. History of Slavery: An Overview. Accessed on 12 June 2013.
http://photos.state.gov/galleries/amgov/30145/slave/ Accessed June 12, 2103.
“American Civil War.” Painting. Civil War Conundrum. Accessed on 15 June 2013.
http://hauensteincenter.org/civil-war-1-conundrum/
“Emancipation Proclamation.” Photograph. National Archives and Records Administration. Accessed on
15 June 2013.
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured_documents/emancipation_proclamation/
“Emancipation Manifesto.” Photograph. The Center for Historical Social Science Literature. January 11,
2012. Accessed on 11 June 2013. http://chssl.lib.hit-u.ac.jp/collection/bernstein/book01_e.html
“Abraham Lincoln.” Photograph. Buffalo History Works. Accessed on 11 June 2013.
http://www.buffalohistoryworks.com/lincoln/reception.htm
“Tsar Alexander II.” Photograph. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Accessed on 10
June 2013.http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/A4417.html
“Post Emancipation Proclamation.” Drawing. World History Project. Accessed on 10 June 2013.
http://worldhistoryproject.org/topics/emancipation-proclamation
“Crimean War.” Photograph. Military War Photos. Accessed on 15 June 2013.
http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?125097-Crimean-War-Photos-(1854-
1856)
“Serfs and Peasants.” Painting. Subversify. Accessed on 16 June 2013.
http://subversify.com/2012/06/27/serfs-and-peasants/