Emancipation Proclamation: The Emancipation Proclamation was spoken by Abraham Lincoln. It was meant to address the issue of slavery and as a military strategy. It also changed the Civil War from being about saving the country to a battle about human equality. Abraham Lincoln had previously declared that all slaves were contraband of war. This created an opening for emancipation. The declaration that slaves were contraband of war created a flood of slaves crossing the border to be claimed by Union soldiers. The Union soldiers would take the slaves in and occasionally would return them back to their owners. Congress then passed an act that forbade generals to return the slaves back to their owners. This strengthened the Union army, with many newly enlisted slaves. Abraham Lincoln, after being encouraged, unveiled and presented the Emancipation Proclamation. The proclamation stated that all slaves in states in rebellion to the Union were now free. It also let African-American people enlist in the Union Army. Over the next two and a half years 180,000 African-Americans fought in the army and another 10,000 in the navy, adding a significant amount of manpower to the Union Army.
http://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/emancipation-proclamation
https://memory.loc.gov/ammem/alhtml/almintr.html
http://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/emancipation-proclamation
https://memory.loc.gov/ammem/alhtml/almintr.html