The Emancipation Proclamation The President Abraham Lincoln wanted to preserve the Union rather than the removal of slavery while the Civil War began in 1861. Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January, 1863, and it said all slaves in the rebellious states “shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.” The Emancipation Proclamation was a big turning point for the war, transforming the fight to save the nation into a battle for human freedom. The Emancipation Proclamation did three important things to the Civil War. It changed the main goal of the Civil War, it allowed the slaves to serve in the Union Army and it affected European nations. The Emancipation Proclamation changed the main goal of the Civil War. While slavery had been a major issue, Lincoln had only one mission at the start of the war and it was to maintain the Union. “Abolitionist elements in the Union north were very vocal about the need to vanquish slavery, but the everyday people of the northern side initially didn’t have very strong feelings of support”. The Emancipation Proclamation allowed the slaves to serve in the Union Army. This decision to tell the slaves from the South that they were free and allow them to join in the fight against their masters was a brilliant strategy. Ultimately with those permissions, many freed …show more content…
The United Kingdom did not support slavery at this time and because of that they also decided to not get involved in the Civil War. Another foreign country that stayed neutral was France but they actually did support slavery and the best thing for them was to stay out of the Civil War. The North had to win the war for emancipation to become effective, but until the war's end in April 1865, the U.S. no longer had to worry about English or European