(November 27, 2022 at 9:20 pm)Rev. Rye Wrote:(November 27, 2022 at 9:13 pm)Helios Wrote: Except they were not and that just "lost cause" revisionist nonsense.
Of course, even most Lost Causers acknowledge that the war wasn't over by the time Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.
Admittedly, Antietam, the turning point of the war, was fought a few days before it was issued, but the Confederacy was by no means, treated as a conquered nation by this point. There'd still be over two and a half years left, with six battles even bloodier than Antietam left to come at that point.
Antietam was the worst single day. But issuing the Emancipation Proclamation was a brilliant piece of propaganda. It transformed the war from being about "Muh staits raaaats" to slavery and took any possible intervention by Europe off the board.