Antietam (Sharpsburg) and the Emancipation Proclamation

Antietam (Sharpsburg)
         The Battle of Antietam happened on September 17, 1862, and it was one of the first three major battles fought in the Civil War- Fort Sumter and Bull Run. This battle took place in Maryland when Robert E. Lee decided to invade the North because they had momentum and confidence from winning the past battle, however his army was still exhausted from the fight. The Union had the "upper-hand" in this battle because of two things. One was that the Union had a lot more soldiers to fight. Also, the Union army found a copy of the Confederate's orders. Another important factor in this battle was that if the South won, they might have gotten recognition from Britain and France. This would mean that the Confederacy may have been aided by these countries, and have received war supplies. However, after thirteen hours of fighting, the two sides remained practically in the same spots that they started in. Over 22,000 men died in the fight (12,000-Union, 10,000-Confederacy). It was the bloodiest singe day of battle in history. After the battle, Lincoln decided to remove General McClellan from command because he was not aggressive enough and he did not pursue the weakened Confederate troops. Even though no side technically won the battle, Lincoln chose to give the Emancipation Proclamation.
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Emancipation Proclamation
          The Emancipation Proclamation was effective on January 1, 1863. President Lincoln gave this executive order after the battle of Antietam. This law said that all slaves that were in states who fought against the Union, would be free once the land they were in was conquered. All slaves that escaped or were in conquered rebel states would be free. However, not all slaves were immediately emancipated and this was because of four main reasons. The first reason was that Lincoln wanted to keep the support of the border states. If Lincoln was reckless with his order, it could result in the states joining the Confederacy. The second reason was that the Constitution had protections about slavery in it. The third reason was that there were many prejudices of northerners. If Lincoln spoke out on slavery too much, it may anger some northerners. This would decrease the support for the war. The last reason was that Lincoln feared that if he acted too soon on slavery, he would not be reelected. The Emancipation Proclamation gave the Union another reason to fight, but it did not immediately free all slaves.
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