[central_va]

During the “recent unpleasantness” there were three areas of the war effort where the CSA was almost on or indeed on par with the USA. Those areas were the cavalry, medical care, and ammunition. Without slaves none of those three areas would have been anywhere near as good as they were for the CSA.

[x]

So the Emancipation Proclamation was unfair because it hurt the Confederate war effort?

Reminds me of the German guy who told a high school acquaintance of mine, "It vass not a fair fight! Ze whole vorlt vass against us!"

[BroJoeK]

central_va: "During the “recent unpleasantness” there were three areas of the war effort where the CSA was almost on or indeed on par with the USA.
Those areas were the cavalry, medical care, and ammunition.
Without slaves none of those three areas would have been anywhere near as good as they were for the CSA."

Indeed, if I understand correctly, during the Civil War, millions of slaves which had previously produced the world's greatest supply of cotton, switched over to producing food for Confederate military & civilians, freeing up equivalent numbers of white men to serve.
And Confederate armies themselves consisted to a large percentage (circa 25% I think) of slaves who performed every function you can think of, except actual fighting.

So there's no doubt that slaves were critical to the Confederate war effort, and Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation struck a blow at the heart of Slave Power.
But the key point to understand here is that Emancipation struck simultaneously in three different areas:

1. Militarily: slaves were denied to the Confederacy and enlisted as US Army colored troops.

2. Economically: slave workers withdrawn from support of Confederate economy.

3. Ideologically: Emancipation demonstrated that slaves could, and would be, freed whenever, uh, practicable.