Praxis II Citizenship

Answer: D - The Union’s better showing at the Battle of Antietam gave Abraham Lincoln the confidence to issue the Emancipation Proclamation and ended any chance of European support for the Confederacy.
Antietam is often best remembered for being the bloodiest single-day battle in American history. It took place on September 17, 1862, near Sharpsburg, Maryland between the Union forces under George B. McClellan and the Confederate forces under Robert E. Lee. Even after 22,717 soldiers were killed, wounded, or captured, neither side had gained a tactical advantage, though the battle would prove to be a strategic win for the Union after the Confederates withdrew from the battlefield. Lincoln later told his Cabinet that he made a covenant with God that if Union forces drove the Confederates out of Maryland, he would issue the Emancipation Proclamation. The declaration, which freed the slaves in the states that were in rebellion, won the support of Great Britain and France (both of which had already abolished slavery) and prevented them from supporting the Confederacy.