It was more calculated than that. Don't forget that letter where he pointed out his primary goal was to save the union, even if it meant keeping slavery intact. Nothing was more important to him than that.
What ended up happening was that several European nations, including England, were unhappy about the loss of the cotton trade due to the blockade imposed by the Union, and they were seriously considering intervening in support of the Confederacy. Lincoln realized he had to stop that, and that declaring the abolition of slavery would change everything. There was no way those nations would jump into the war against the side fighting to eliminate slavery, so he wrote up the Emancipation Proclamation, and it did exactly what he needed: it kept Europe out of the war.
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u/I_Frothingslosh Jul 12 '24 edited Jul 12 '24
It was more calculated than that. Don't forget that letter where he pointed out his primary goal was to save the union, even if it meant keeping slavery intact. Nothing was more important to him than that.
What ended up happening was that several European nations, including England, were unhappy about the loss of the cotton trade due to the blockade imposed by the Union, and they were seriously considering intervening in support of the Confederacy. Lincoln realized he had to stop that, and that declaring the abolition of slavery would change everything. There was no way those nations would jump into the war against the side fighting to eliminate slavery, so he wrote up the Emancipation Proclamation, and it did exactly what he needed: it kept Europe out of the war.