It was the unexpected Northern Victory that gave Lincoln the credibility to make the proclamation without making it sound like a desperate war-measure.
Lincoln was against slavery and the expansion of slavery. He was the more moderate Republican voice on the subject, thereby winning him the 1860 election. Like all abolitionist, he understood that...
The very real danger of Britain granting recognition to the Confederacy, in the wake of Lee's successes in Summer 1862.The Proclamation turned the war into an official crusade against slavery, so...
Antietam (Sharpsburg).It was an unexpected Northern win that gave Lincoln the opportunity to issue the Proclamation without making it look like a desperate measure.
Antietam was the first Northern victory after Robert E. Lee's string of successes in Virginia in Summer 1862.Lincoln had been waiting for an opportunity to proclaim freedom for Southern slaves, but...