Why was the Victory at Antietam necessary for the Emancipation Proclamation.?

Question

I am wondering about this, since original I read in "With Malice Towards None, A life of Abraham Lincoln". I missed it or forgot about it but. It had something to do with Lincoln trying to show Europe that the Union was not desperate, that it could hold its ground, as well as appease England (Since they Slavery dissolved their in the early 1830's). I am just curious why Lincoln had to wait for a Victory in order to create the Emancipation Proclamation?

Answer 1

Because the  army had had mostly defeats.It would have seemed  like a desperate move.Lincoln wanted to sign it before Antietam.But Secretary of State William H Seward convinced him to wait.He told lincoln that it would seem and i quote "like our last shriek on the retreat.I am a serious Lincoln reader i am 100% sure about this.Reaction at home was much more important than the reaction in England or Europe.

Answer 2

It would have been politically foolish to just issue the proclamation before then because up until Antietam the Union had not won a single major battle in the eastern theatre. It looked like Britain and France were going to recognize the CSA at any moment. Then on Sept. 17, 1862, the single bloodiest day in U.S. history, the two sides fought to a draw. The Confederates then withdrew to Virginia.