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The bloody victory of the Union forces at [[Why Was the Battle of Antietam a Pivotal event in the American Civil War?|Antietam]] gave Lincoln an opening to issue the Emancipation Proclamation. The victory at Antietam demonstrated that the South was not on the precipice of victory. It became clear that the war would continue that the Union and Lincoln had little interest in anything except a Confederate surrender. The Emancipation Proclamation not only freed the slaves in Confederate territory, but it also authorized the enlistment of black soldiers and made the civil war. Finally, it subtly transformed the Civil War from a war about union to conflict about freedom and slavery. Any momentum the South had made was undermined by Antietam and Lincoln's Proclamation.