I’ve seen many, many claims that emancipation was a last-minute desperation measure on the part of Lincoln and the Union that I compiled the following timeline of emancipation actions over the course of the war.
To my mind it shows pretty clearly that emancipation started the month after the war, and was pretty much an ongoing process till December, 1865. 13A, BTW, freed slaves only in KY (~50k) and DE (<200). All other slaves were freed previously, either by state action or the Emancipation Proclamation.
13A did not (mostly) free slaves. What it did was forever end the institution of slavery.
1861
May: General Butler refuses to return three slaves being used to build CSA fortifications to their owner. Concept of “contraband of war” originated.
August: Confiscation Act of 1861 declares that any property, including slaves, used by CSA could be confiscated by military action.
September: “Contrabands” employed by US Army and Navy paid wages, in addition to rations
November: Nathaniel Gordon convicted and sentenced to death in NYC for slave trading (classified as piracy)
1862
February: Nathaniel Gordon executed
March: Washington, DC slaves freed by Congress, with compensation
Return of any escaped slaves to their owners prohibited by Congress
April: Congress offers compensation to any state that emancipates
May: Lincoln publicly entreats border states to free slaves
Slavery prohibited in all territories
July: Lincoln appeals again to the border states
September: Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation
1863
January: Final Emancipation Proclamation
Thereafter, slaves freed wherever Union armies conquer
July: WV slaves freed by state action
1864
January: 13th Amendment introduced
March: AR slaves freed by state action
April: 13th Amendment passes Senate
June: Congress repeals Fugitive Slave Law
September: LA slaves freed by state action
November: MD slaves freed by state action
1865
January: MO slaves freed by state action
13th Amendment passes House
February: TN slaves freed by state action
April: Lee surrenders
Slaves freed throughout entire former Confederacy
December: 13th Amendment ratified
Slaves in KY (50,000) and DE (200) freed
Institution of slavery ended.
The “claims”, as you put it, are scholarly consensus. Even the “Jaffaites” clearly acknowledge that Lincoln and the Republicans viewed the primary issue as keeping the South under the Federal government, while slavery was at most secondary issue. I don’t think that there is much dispute that Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation to prevent European governments from recognizing the Confederacy. As you know, the Proclamation didn’t free any slaves. Moreover, encouraging a servile insurrection was part of the war strategy, as it had been a part of the antebellum abolitionist program. Interestingly, the slaves weren’t interested in a Haiti-style uprising.
Still, I found your timeline interesting. So, here is a small detail for you to check: the District of Columbia Emancipation Proclamation was signed April 16, 1862, not in March. You might also note that the Act included $100,000 for sending former slaves to Liberia if they wished to go (I don’t think any took Lincoln up on that, though).
What we need today is an Emancipation Proclamation freeing taxpayers.