Why was Lincoln so slow to declare the Civil War as a fight against slavery?

Was he wise to move slowly, or could an early Emancipation Proclamation have undermined the Union cause? As with any radical idea, backlash is omnipresent, simply lower in some areas than others. Should Lincoln have declared the Civil War a war to abolish slavery, he would have lost the Border States, alienated the voters and caused disruption in slavery strongholds. His decision to announce his plans later in the war was a sound strategy, as it then lent more positive impact, via credence to the war than the estranging of opposition took away. When the war first broke, the majority of Americans living in the Union would not have supported a war to abolish slavery. They realized the South was adamant in their decision, and would have rather seen it split away than go to war for such a futile cause. They were not, however, opposed to fighting to restore the Union, as they felt this was a manageable victory. Especially ardent in their support of a slave holding South were those people living in the Butternut Region of south Ohio and surrounds. Also, Border States were disputing slavery, with all of the states having some slaves in them. Should Lincoln have made clear that the war was one to abolish slavery, they probably would have joined the Confederacy, leaking away vital manufacturing and human resources. However, later in the war, when the outlook for a North victory was brightening, the Emancipation Proclamation had the opposite effect that it would have in the beginning; it strengthened the position of the Union. The Proclamation gave both moral righteousness to the Union cause as well as political support that helped prevent either Britain or France from intervening. At the point of announcement, after the battle of Antietam, few Unionists opposed the continuation of the war, many pro-abolitionists felt that anti-slavery measures could be passed through, since victory was a realistic possibility. Border States were also already committed to the Union and martial law was imposed in some, preventing any dissent.

Although slow to issue, the timing of the Emancipation Proclamation was by no means an accident. Had it been issued earlier, it would have fallen not only on deaf ears, but those oversensitive as well, causing the movement to create a single entity to lose clout. Although it could have been issued later, there is the possibility that Britain or France could have joined the effort, with no anti-slavery ordinances creating moral dilemmas. President Lincoln planned the release of the Proclamation with utmost care, and the timing was superb.