The End of Slavery
It took the Civil War in America to really bring an end to the practice of slavery. Fighting for the end of slavery became a central purpose of the Civil War. The war was not just about preserving the Union but was also about winning freedom for those unjustly enslaved. However, in order to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation in the states that were in rebellion (to which the measure applied) meant the Union had to win the war.
Recall that not everyone in the Union supported abolishing slavery. Take the Border States, for instance. The Border States didn’t secede from the Union, but slavery still existed within these states, which remained sympathetic to the Confederate cause. Lincoln didn’t want to ruffle any feathers and give the Border States a reason to leave the Union, so they were exempt from the Emancipation Proclamation.
