Sorry, to be clear I meant "against emancipation" as "against a particular political proposal to enact emancipation". Maybe call it "capital 'e' Emancipation",

Sorry, to be clear I meant "against emancipation" as "against a particular political proposal to enact emancipation". Maybe call it "capital 'e' Emancipation", for my lack of knowledge of American history. Obviously you're right that to be against the idea of emancipation is to be pro-slavery. But to oppose a specific political position is much more nuanced. There were many people who opposed Obamacare on the grounds that it didn't go far enough. You couldn't automatically say they were against universal health care. Many people oppose legislation that they would otherwise support because they are rolled up in an omnibus bill they can't support, or because the devil in the details would make it counterproductive to their cause.