Question

How did the Civil War change from a war to preserve the Union to a war to end slavery?

Answer 1

Initially the North fought the Civil War between North and South to avoid the secession of the Southern States and to maintain the Union. While sectional tensions over slavery had been a major cause of the war, ending slavery was not a war goal. That changed on September 22, 1862, when President Lincoln issued his Provisional Proclamation on Emancipation, which confirmed that slaves would be declared free in those states or parts of states still in revolt as of January 1, 1863. One hundred days later, with the uprising unabated, the President issued the Decree of Emancipation stating that all persons captured as slaves in the rebellious regions are and ultimately shall be free

The bold decision Lincoln took to change the war's objectives was a strategic move and came only a few days after the Union's victory in the Battle of Antietam. Through this Proclamation, he hoped to inspire all blacks, and particularly slaves in the Confederacy, to support the cause of the Union and to prevent England and France from granting the Confederacy political recognition and military assistance. However, since this was a military measure, the declaration of emancipation was in many ways constrained. It only extended to states that had seceded from the Union, leaving slavery in the loyal border states unaffected.

It often specifically removed parts of the South which were already under the control of the Union. Most notably, the independence that it offered relied on a military victory for the Union. Though the declaration of emancipation did not end slavery in the country, it profoundly transformed the war's character. Every advance of Federal troops extended the realm of liberty after 1 January 1863. Moreover, the Proclamation announced the acceptance of black men into the Union Army and Navy, enabling the liberated to become liberators. By the end of the war, almost 200,000 Black soldiers and sailors had fought for independence and the Union.

Slaves had acted to protect their own independence from the very first days of the Civil War. The Declaration of Emancipation reinforced their determination that the war against the Union would become a war for independence. It added moral power to the Union cause and both militarily and politically strengthened the Union. The Emancipation Declaration has taken a position among the great documents of human liberty as a landmark along the way to the final dissolution of slavery.