in this segment we will be taking a look at the emancipation proclamation and the principles that were outlined in abraham lincoln's gettysburg address as we view this presentation keep in mind these questions how did the ideas expressed in the emancipation proclamation and the gettysburg address support the north's war aims what was lincoln's vision of the american nation as professed in the gettysburg address the first that we want to look at is the emancipation proclamation we've already mentioned that this issue was issued after the battle of antietam lincoln needed a victory for it to not seem like a move of desperation it was published in september of 1862 but would not take effect until january of 1863 this would give the nation three months to get used to the idea it was a military it was a political and it was a foreign policy attempt to bring a rapid end to the war military it allowed the enlistment of african-american soldiers in the army and lincoln believed it would encourage southern slaves to to revolt the political goal was that it made destruction of slavery a northern war aim and that would silence abraham lincoln lincoln's critics in the north it was a foreign policy goal as well lincoln wanted to discourage any foreign interference into the civil war france and britain had already declared that slavery should be illegal and they would not be as inclined to assist the confederacy if this were a war aim so who was freed by this listen carefully the emancipation proclamation freed only those slaves located in the rebelling states that is the ones that had seceded not in the border states why not them well lincoln did not want to make the border states angry and he wanted to give the confederate states the opportunity to come back into the union again he gave them three months to come back to the union and therefore they could keep their slaves so if they came back before january 1st 1863 no harm no foul the gettysburg address was another very important action of abraham lincoln during the civil war it was the battle at gettysburg that had simply too many casualties and the only solution was to bury the bodies at the battle site that is gettysburg and so therefore gettysburg needed to be turned into a national cemetery obviously the land needed to be consecrated and at first lincoln did not believe that he should go down and give the address but later on he changed his mind abraham lincoln was not the keynote speaker the guy who was to give the the primary address talked for a couple of hours while he said some beautiful things it was abraham lincoln's speech that we remember his few words this this speech only lasted a couple of minutes so his few words though they seem to to be short embodied the essence of war and sacrifice as we take a look at lincoln's gettysburg address lincoln stated that the united states was one nation not a federation of independent states that the civil war to lincoln was a goal to to preserve the union that is a nation of the people by the people and for the people and lincoln described this struggle to preserve the union as keeping the constitution and its ideals that were written in the declaration of independence alive that is to say the proposition that all men are created equal that this is a government of the people by the people and for the people again abraham lincoln is saying that we are one nation not a collection of sovereign states and while southerners felt that they had joined the union freely they could leave abraham lincoln said no we are in this together abraham lincoln believed that the civil war was fought to fulfill those promises of the declaration of independence he felt this was a second american revolution he described a different vision for the united states from the one that had prevailed before the war to the one that america is going to become this is a rebirth for america a rebirth of freedom and a new way to seize america's future