Significance of Antietam

1. Northern victory, visible battlefield
2. Defense, not liberation
3. End of McClellan and restraint
4. Total War, not heroism
5. Anaconda Plan, not quick victory
6. European neutrality, not mediation
7. Emancipation, not restoration
8. Realism, not romance
9. Images of Brady and Gardner and Homer

"a turning point of crucial importance"

• Sept. 22 - Lincoln signed Emancipation Proclamation that he drafted July 12 after border states rejected Lincoln's March 6 financial aid plan for gradual compensated emancipation, followed by July 17 Second Confiscation Act that freed slaves when property seized of persons in rebellion and allowed black soldiers in Union Army, followed by official Cabinet endorsement July 22.
• Sept. 24 - Lincoln edict suspended writ of habeas corpus to stop rise of Copperheads and resistance to draft and guerilla forces in border states.
• Nov. midterm elections - Dem. won 32 seats in House, gov. of NY and NJ, leg. of IL and IN - but Rep. won 5 seats in Senate, held border states and upper North and kept majority in Congress
• Dec. 1 - Lincoln message to Congress proposed amendment for gradual compensation in states "wherein slavery now exists" while keeping emancipation proclamation effective Jan. 1 for states in rebellion and slaves freed by war

Films include Glory (1989) and 10 Days (2006 History Channel)