It freed only those living in Confederate states that could manage to flee and make their way behind Union lines. It was known that Lincoln did not approve of slavery but he sanctioned it to preserve the Union being that some Union states still had established slavery themselves and he did not want to upset them. So, the aim of the war started as just preserving the Union to total abolition of slavery when the Proclamation was signed. This was important for African Americans because it “fundamentally transformed the character of the war from a war for the Union into a war for freedom. Moreover, the proclamation announced the acceptance of black men into the Union army and navy, enabling the liberated to become liberators. By the end of the war, almost 200,000 black soldiers and sailors had fought for the Union and freedom.” (The Emancipation Proclamation,