The Emancipation Proclamation was in effect because of the Battle of Antietam. The “win” that the Union received (viewed as inconclusive to everyone else), gave Abraham Lincoln the courage to create the Emancipation Proclamation. Originally, Lincoln gave the south an ultimatum- join the union, or your slaves will become free. This sounds like a good thing, but the last thing the south wanted was for their slaves to be free. It was their main source of labor for their main cash crop (cotton). After all, the south was fighting in the Civil War to keep slavery. The south obviously didn’t rejoin the Union, so slaves in southern (rebel) states, were free! The document stated that, “All persons held as slaves within rebellious states are, and henceforward shall be free”. The slaves were ecstatic- it was like Christmas morning when you are 4 times 100. In fact, many slaves joined the Union to fight against the Confederates. This was very liberating, because the slaves could finally have revenge on their evil masters. After the freedom of slaves, the character of the war changed because it added a moral force.
*Emancipation Proclamation*
*Slaves in the war*
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