Today in history: Lincoln prepares the Emancipation Proclamation

But ending slavery wasn't the president's top priority

Lincoln
(Image credit: Getty Images)

July 22, 1862: President Abraham Lincoln informed his cabinet that he would issue the Emancipation Proclamation to free the slaves. But ending slavery wasn’t Lincoln's priority. He hoped it would result in blacks fleeing the South and joining the Union army, thus weakening the South.

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