Why President Lincoln Issued the Emancipation Proclamation and what It Meant

During his election campaign and throughout the early years of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln denied the rumor that he would make an attack on the issue of slavery. At the outbreak of Civil War fighting, he pledged to 'restore the Union, but accept slavery where it existed. Over time however, Lincoln changed his views on the issue and finally issued the Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, 1862 after seeing emancipation as a war measure that was both essential and sound. In reality, the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation didn't change much about the slavery issue but it did change the conflict itself. The real change came when Lincoln signed it on January 1, 1863.
The most important reasons for Abraham Lincoln's decision to issue the Emancipation Proclamation did not involve his abolitionist opinion. …