re: Robert E. Lee monument coming down NOW

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So let me get this straight. You think the focus of those four states changed after they saw slavery conditions down south. Even though:

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I was speaking more generally to the Union as a whole, but I'll answer your questions.

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1)The Emancipation Proclamation literally did nothing for anyone. It freed no slaves in any part of the Union.

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Your first sentence is nonsense, the second is closer to the mark but misguided. As to the first, the EP brought about enticement it was an invitation for thousands of slaves to secure freedom by escaping to the Union lines. This is often called "self-emancipation" and it was to a certain extent, but it wouldn't have been an option without the EP. You can read A Slave No More: Two Men Who Escaped to Freedom, Including Their Own Narratives of Emancipationfor two such amazing stories. Secondly, people often don't realize this part of the EP: "And I further declare and make known that such persons of suitable condition will be received into the armed service of the United States to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service." These two new policies - a call for black enlistment and enticement- turns Union soldiers into an army of liberation in the seceded states. (Read Freedom National: The Destruction of Slavery in the United States, 1861-1865) As to the second part, the EP was seen as a war measure, as was the First and Second Confiscation Acts (of which most people aren't aware) Lincoln believed he didn't have legal justification to free the slaves in the border states.

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2)Those soldiers came from slave holding states, and many had their own slaves.

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Not really, if you look into the regiments from those states that fought for the Union you'll see that most came from portions of the state that slavery didn't exist or was minimal in nature. Many people from MO, KY, fought for the Confederacy. Parts of the state where you had large plantations, those men enlisted and fought for the Confederacy. The state conventions or legislatures may have voted to stay in the Union but many people (especially the ones who owned slaves) did not agree with it.

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3)Those States didn't free their slaves until the 13th amendment. After the end of the civil war.

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And? It's not as if people in the North were all anti-slavery. Read Copperheads: The Rise and Fall of Lincoln's Opponents in the North for a deep exploration into that. Many Northerners benefited from slavery, mainly banks, insurance companies and textile mills.