On this date in 1809 a legend was born. Abraham Lincoln, the most popular president in our history. He is credited with freeing the slaves, but like many urban legends, it is not true.
After the battle of Antietam, which ended in a stalemate, he decided to make life more difficult for the Confederacy by issuing the Emancipation Proclamation which "freed the slaves" that were under the control of the Confederacy. It did not apply to the border states, and it did not have the desired effect either. He hoped it would encourage the slaves to rise up and create another front for the confederacy to deal with.
What freed the slaves was the 13th amendment which congress passed after Lincoln's death.He was not a racist, and his reason for going to war was to preserve the union. That battle convinced England to not enter the war on the side of the south
Old beliefs die hard.