Emancipation Proclamation

Abraham Lincoln and his Emancipation Proclamation.
The Strobridge Lith. Co., Cincinnati, c1888. 

After the battle of Antietam, Lincoln finally had enough momentum to do what he had been waiting to do for a long time: he
addressed slavery by issuing the Emancipation Proclamation on January1,1963. The Emancipation freed all slaves in the South, allowed them to join the military, and gave them the right to act in self defense.  When the Union troops invaded Southern lands, they freed the slaves and asked the able-bodied slaves join the military (many did join making the proclamation strategically and militarily logical). It's important to note that the Proclamation did not give African descendants the right to vote, nor did it free slaves in the border states (Maryland, Missouri, Deleware, West Virginia,and Kentucky). Those slaves were not free until the 13 amendment. Still, the Emancipation Proclamation was a major stepping stone to completely abolishing slavery.

 

Left: Recruitment Poster for Black Soldiers      Right: Lincoln's Last Warning !0-11-1862
Source: www.archives.gov                         Source:www.civilwarliterature.com