What role did the emancipation proclamation play in freeing the slaves? "After the union victory in Battle of Antietam Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the issue in January 1. 1863 slaves can be free"
The emancipation proclamation was the written document that freed slaves in the south. So instead of saying it, and (if he actually did, change his mind) it has already became a 'law-of-sorts' and cannot be changed
