Abraham Lincoln changed the Civil War in Sept 22, 1862 when he wrote one of the most important papers ever written in American History: The Emancipation Proclamation. The United States at this time was one of the very few countries in the world that was still practicing slavery. In the Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln warned that if the states of confederacy didn't return to the Union by Jan 1, 1863 he would declare their slaves to be forever free. Even though many northerners were against the idea of slavery, they were hesitant to accept Blacks into their social, economic, and political system. Because of this, Lincoln delayed issuing the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation until September 22, 1862, two years after the Civil War commenced. When he did this he was assured that war was well under way and that the problem of slavery was becoming a far more important element in the nation than had been before.
The South however refused to return to the Union. This is a big mistake that they will regret for decades to come.
The Emancipation Proclamation was very important to the war effort. The North and the South had a lot of hate and tension towards each other. At this time the nation was divided into two sides the North, and the South. The nation started to fall apart when several states seceded from the Confederate States of America. Lincoln was very scared that such succession would leave the nation weak and what the nation really needed was to be a