Importance of the Battle of Antietm
... but nobody went ahead to make it clear that that was the reason. The Union was especially cautious of this at the start of the war because of its border states. They felt they needed as much support as they could get in order to quickly defeat the Confederates. The Battle of Antietam satisfied the Union in thinking that they were in a pretty steady and powerful position, so that their declaration of the freedom of slavery would be justified and not just an empty gesture, as it would have been if the Union had been losing the war. After declaring Antietam a Union victory, Lincoln decided it was time, and on the day that the Emancipation Proclamation was issued, the Civil War became officially recognized as the drive to the fate of slavery. Although the Northern abolitionists were slightly disappointed at the limitations of the Emancipation Proclamation, they were convinced that it would go further, and it did. The South had long been awaiting for the aid of foreign powers in order to help them in this war with the north. They were actually counting on the foreign assistance to come in and save them. That is probably the reason why they didn't win the war, because of their false assumptions. They felt that, since Britain had long been a loyal customer of South's cotton, London government couldn't bear to see their exporters being crushed by the North. London depended on the Southern cotton, and without slavery, there would be no more cotton, which meant no more warm cloths. "Great Britain needs us," thought the south. "King Cotton will solve all our problems." What the South had forgotten is that not only had London been stocking up on cotton, but the South wasn't the only producer of cotton. When and if London did run out of its cotton, they could easily turn to countries such as Egypt and India for cotton. Britain did not want to get entangled in a family war that had nothing to do with them. What disheartened them even more, was the Southern defeat at the Battle of Antietam. Before this battle, British, as well as even French governments were on the verge of intervening, but when the Union had displayed their power at the battle of Antietam, both French and British government began having second thoughts. Thus the South lost their last hope of foreign aid and therefore beginning their downfall of power. Probably the most basic aspect that occurred as a result of the battle of Antietam which laid the foundation for the two previous outcomes was the unfortunate loss of the South. The interesting thing is that, in reality, the Battle of Antietam did not leave one side clearly victorious. It could be considered more like a stalemate, but General Lee made it seem more of a Union victory since...