Historians say that by writing the Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln established a moral purpose for the war.

VOA: special.2009.02.09

His other publications include "The Emancipation Proclamation" and "Reconstruction after the Civil War."

VOA: special.2009.12.27

What Lincoln did was stake the high ground because with this proclamation there would be no compromise to the Union cause until the war was over.

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Almost two years before the Emancipation Proclamation, millions of Americans already understood that this was to be a war for or against slavery.

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