So if the war was just about slavery, why did the North wait until after Gettysburg to free the slaves, and then only the slaves in the South? Could it be that there was more to the CW than slavery?
You are right about the war. The war, especially at the first, was not all about slavery. But the first wave secessions that triggered the whole affair were almost 100% over slavery.
There were a lot of reasons for Southern states’ secession; some legitimate; some completely immoral. One of those causes has not changed in 150 years—Democrats who could not accept the fact that they can’t always get their own way.
FYI, Emancipation Proclamation was signed 1 Jan 1863, Battle of Gettysburg 1-3 July 1863
Yea, it's called the EXPANSION of slavery into free states and free territories yet to become states.
You want a serious answer? It's because the Emancipation Proclamation was a war measure issued under Lincoln's authority as commander in chief and applying only to those areas in rebellion. Ending slavery in the states not in rebellion would require a Constitutional amendment, and while Lincoln continually pushed for such, the Democrats remaining in Congress blocked such an amendment until after the election of 1864. The one place not in rebellion where Lincoln could end slavery without an amendment was the District of Columbia. Slavery there ended in April, 1862.
Oh, and the Emancipation Proclamation was issued after Antietam, not Gettysburg.
From the Northern viewpoint, yes. But from the Southern viewpoint, no. Their rebellion was motivated by their perceived need to protect their institution of slavery from what they saw as the threat of a Republican administration.