“I’ve read that Britain was considering joining the war in support of the CSA. Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation which prevented them from joining because it would look as if Britain were supporting slavery.”
That would make sense. I’ve read where the Emancipation Proclamation was done to garner support to continue fighting the war due to the North’s concerns of such a bloody conflict. The proclamation was made almost two years after the start of the war.
I’m guessing their were all sorts of reasons to free the slaves. One of which was to free the slaves.
The proclamation also only freed the slaves in the states that were in rebellion!