re: Abraham Lincoln radically changed the nature of the Civil War on this day 161 years ago

quote:

---

And yet slaves who wandered into Union lines in the aftermath of the Emancipation Proclamation were not returned to their owners.

---

Which I'm sure was done for completely empathetic reasons. That isn't even the point that I would argue. The point I argue is that the Emancipation Proclamation was just window dressing. It did not do a damn thing, it did not free a single slave. It was a purely political stunt. If it wasn't, and it was done with the purest of intentions, well then Lincoln would have freed every slave. North, South, Border States. But, he didn't. He isn't the hero he is made out to be.