[Bubba Ho-Tep]

There were four slave states in the North and Lincoln let them keep their slaves.

Two of them, Missouri and Maryland, ended slavery on their own, as did West Virginia. The 13th amendment, pushed by Lincoln and passed through congress after the Republicans made gains in the 1864 election, freed the rest. You guys always squawk about what the EP didn't do, but forget the 13th.

[spacecowboynj]

The 13th Amendment came years after the Emancipation Proclamation. I mean really now, if this was about ending slavery, why tolerate slavery in four northern states? Let's put it like this: the 13th Amendment came HALF A DECADE after the Civil War began. And spare me Missouri "ending slavery on it's own." Abolitionists were murdered there and at the outset of the Civil War, here's what a slave fetched there:

In 1860, top male slaves brought about $1,300 each, and female slaves about $1,000. The State Auditor’s report for 1860 placed the value of the slaves in the State at $44,181,912.

http://www.duboislc.org/MissouriBlacks/p01_slavery.html

Granted, there were no huge plantations, but slave owners typically had one or two but there were some individuals around Jackson County who had 100 or more.

Do you want to get me started on the other three states? Mind you, not one of their congressional delegates signed anything to end slavery until the end of the Civil War.