Lincoln’s Proclamation | National Geographic

this is where I made my most important
political decision in the summer of 1862
it’s like my old writing desk from
Springfield here I boldly declared the
liberation of slaves as the new means
for ending the war if my name ever goes
down in history it will be for this act
and my whole soul is in it the
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Emancipation Proclamation in which he
delivers a death blow to slavery becomes
the most important document of the Civil
War
Lincoln has learned to be firm the
Presidential Decree makes compromise
with the South impossible Fanning the
flames of the Civil War
new battalions are drawn up the promise
of freedom for all blacks has won
Lincoln the support of urgently needed
fresh troops on the battlefields 180,000
black men fighting their own segregated
regiments for the cause of the Union and
for their own fate the railroad allows
the north to assert its technological
superiority with it soldiers and cannons
can be transported quickly throughout
the country new railway lines are built
across America battlefields are often
located strategically close to the
tracks near the newly built towns
springing up along these highly
trafficked routes the railroad is
critical in determining the outcome of
the war
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gradually the north gained the
upper-hand the southern states are
forced on the defensive their troops
lose more and more ground
in a risky military strategy they
attempt to close in on the armies of the
north by using enormous deployments
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but sabotaging the railway lines is
often more effective
horrific battles take place in the
summer of 1863 the two sides square off
near the small town of Gettysburg
Pennsylvania
8,000 men died in three days
30,000 our windows
the Battle of Gettysburg is the turning
point of the war a bloody symbol of the
sacrifice President Lincoln demands for
the unity of the nation and the
liberation of the slaves
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