1 Place the sweet potatoes on a rimmed baking sheet lined with foil. 2  Bake until tender, about 45 minutes. 3  Make a slit in the top of each sweet potato. 4  Top with 1 tablespoon of butter and season with the salt and pepper.
The Emancipation Proclamation also allowed for the enrollment of freed slaves into the United States military. During the war nearly 200,000 blacks, most of them ex-slaves, joined the Union Army.
Although the purpose of the Emancipation Proclamation, in addition to freeing slaves, was to help the war effort, it did have negative consequences on the Union's cause. Many in the North did not support emancipation. Although abolitionist sentiments were high, most, including Lincoln, wanted gradual emancipation.