Emancipation Proclamation

After the success of the Battle of Antietam for the north, Lincoln made his plans to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, which would free all slaves in states outside Union control. He did not actually emancipate all slaves immediately so that: he could keep the border states in the Union, the Constitutional protection of slavery, the prejudices of most northerners, and that he feared that the Proclamation may be overturned in the next election. The Emancipation Proclamation gave the northern army another purpose for fighting. Not only were they fighting against secession and for keeping the Union a whole, but also against the evils of slavery. Unfortunately for the southern slave owners, they would receive no compensation for their lost slaves, which angered almost all of the south.