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The Emancipation Proclamation is considered by some to have begun the end of the Civil War. To understand this viewpoint, we need a little background.

At the beginning of the Civil War, newly elected President Lincoln stated that the Union's main objective was the maintaining of the Constitution's supremacy and preserving the country as a whole.

Slavery was only a part of the unrest between North and South. Greater demands from the Northeastern and Northwestern states were taking precedence over needs voiced by Southern states. The addition of new states opposed to slavery caused the South to become a minority in Congress.

The election of Abraham Lincoln, whose platform favored the requests of the Northern states and opposed the expansion of slavery, caused the Southern states to fear political bias. By the time of Lincoln's inauguration in March of 1861, seven states (South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas) had formed secession ordinances. This was the beginning of the Confederate States of America.

On April 12, 1861, Southern artillery fired upon supply ships attempting to reach Ft. Sumter in South Carolina. When Lincoln sent troops to stop the rebellion, Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee joined the Confederacy.

In March of 1862, the federal government issued orders to Union generals to not return fugitive slaves to their owners. In June, 1862, Congress moved to prohibit slavery in U.S. territories.

Public opinion was increasingly anti-slavery. Due to pressure to act, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, thus giving freedom to over 3 million slaves. The Confederacy was thereafter considered only as 'pro-slavery', the other issues being overshadowed or forgotten altogether.

Support from Great Britain and France, once friendly to the Confederacy, was withdrawn due to their anti-slavery sentiment. This ended any hope of assistance for the Confederacy against the Union.

Lincoln considered the Emancipation Proclamation necessary to weaken the productivity of the South, and cause an end of the war. He also felt that public support for the war was waning and the Union army needed a new cause to fight for.

The Republican party, now unified and organized, enjoyed the prestige it gained by Lincoln's proclamation and remained in power for another 20 years.

Learn more about this author, Rebecca Foster.
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