In many ways there were different ways in which we reacted to the emancipation, many European countries saw it as a kind of righteous authority over the war and therefore, as a result of , places like England and France have said well, we will stay out. We will not support the Confederacy. But these were places that made a lot of money off the cotton produced by slaves. So there was a fear that France or England might recognize the Confederacy and give it legitimacy. So Emancipation, on the one hand, took away that opportunity, because otherwise it would seem like they would have endorsed slavery. But the other thing is, although there were a lot of abolitionists who really stood up for this, and especially the free black community, say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay But the other thing is, although there were a lot of abolitionists who really rallied around this - and particularly the free black community - they felt that this was really At the beginning of the end of slavery, there were a lot of others who basically thought: why is Lincoln waging this war on slavery? Although the Emancipation Proclamation did not free a single slave, it was a major turning point in the war, transforming the fight to preserve the nation into a battle for human freedom. And there were many in the U.S. Army, in the Army of the North, who basically thought that we didn't come together to free the slaves. So there were a number of conflicting notions. But what I think is very powerful is that Lincoln knew that his actions would begin to transform the country when it came to this issue and that was his genius. Because in a sense what Lincoln had to do wasn't just for the public. He had to have some kind of intellectual discussion about why he did it and what was the benefit to the North of what happened. That's why you see it exposes which areas of the country are affected or under the impact and which are not. But I think for me what's so powerful - and this is where Lincoln the wordsmith comes in - is very early in the document he talks about that they would be free forever. And to me, that's the most powerful part of the Emancipation Proclamation, which basically puts the power of the United States government to say, ultimately, that these individuals will be free forever. From the early days of the Civil War, slaves had acted to protect their rights. freedom. The Emancipation Proclamation confirmed their insistence that the war for the Union must become a war for freedom. It added moral strength to the Union cause and strengthened the Union both militarily and politically. As a milestone on the road to the final destruction of slavery, the Emancipation Proclamation has taken a place among the great documents of human freedom. There is no doubt that Lincoln was both pulled and pushed and that he had some of his own momentum. So it wasn't necessarily that Lincoln said this is something I want to do my entire career. But I think what's important to understand about this is that this document is so important because of the doors that it opened, the possibilities that it opened up. And I think the debates about that are really fascinating because I think in some ways what's changed now, hopefully around the sesquicentennial rather than the centennial, is the realization that Lincoln didn't just free the slaves, that the enslaved population has taken an important role role in their own freedom and freedom. This quote during the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, 1862..