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Slaves had been part of the "engine of war" for the Confederacy. They produced and prepared food; sewed uniforms; repaired railways; worked on farms and in factories, shipping yards, and mines; built fortifications; and served as hospital workers and common laborers. News of the Proclamation spread rapidly by word of mouth, arousing hopes of freedom, creating general confusion, and encouraging thousands to escape to Union lines.<ref>{{cite book|last=Goodheart|first=Adam|title=1861: The Civil War Awakening|year=2011|publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group|location=New York}}</ref>{{page needed|date=September 2020}} George Washington Albright, a teenage slave in [[Mississippi]], recalled that like many of his fellow slaves, his father escaped to join Union forces. According to Albright, plantation owners tried to keep the Proclamation from slaves but news of it came through the "grapevine". The young slave became a "runner" for an informal group they called the ''4Ls'' ("Lincoln's Legal Loyal League") bringing news of the proclamation to secret slave meetings at plantations throughout the region.<ref>Jenkins, Sally, and [[John Stauffer (professor)|Stauffer, John]]. ''The State of Jones''. New York: Anchor Books edition/Random House, c. 2009 (2010). {{ISBN|978-0-7679-2946-2}}, p. 42.</ref>
[[Robert E. Lee]] saw the Emancipation Proclamation as a way for the Union to bolsterincrease the number of soldiers it could place on the field, making it imperative for the Confederacy to increase theirits own numbers. Writing on the matter after the sack of [[Fredericksburg, Virginia|Fredericksburg]], Lee wrote, "In view of the vast increase of the forces of the enemy, of the savage and brutal policy he has proclaimed, which leaves us no alternative but success or degradation worse than death, if we would save the honor of our families from pollution [and] our social system from destruction, let every effort be made, every means be employed, to fill and maintain the ranks of our armies, until God in his mercy shall bless us with the establishment of our independence."<ref>[http://cwmemory.com/2011/11/18/robert-e-lee-on-robert-h-milroy-or-emancipation/ "Robert E. Lee on Robert H. Milroy or Emancipation," ''civil war memory: The Online Home of Kevin M. Levin'', November 18, 2011]</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Civil War: A Narrative: Fredericksburg to Meridian|author=Shelby Foote|volume=2|year=1963|publisher=Random House}}</ref>{{page needed|date=September 2020}}
ThisThe Emancipation Proclamation marked a significant turning point in the war for the North as it shiftedmade the focusgoal fromof the North not only defendingpreserving the Union, but also freeing allthe slaves.<ref>{{cite web |title=Emancipation Proclamation (1863) |url=https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/emancipation-proclamation |website=National Archives|publisher=National Archives |access-date=13 February 2024|date=May 10, 2022}}</ref> The Proclamation also rallied support from abolitionists and Europeans, while encouraging enslaved individuals to escape to the North. This weakened the South's labor force while bolstering the North's ranks. <ref>{{cite web |title=Immediate Effects of the Emancipation Proclamation |url=https://www.portal.hsp.org/unit-plan-items/unit-plan-34 |website=Historical Society of PennslyvaniaPennsylvania |publisher=Historical Society of PennslyvaniaPennsylvania |access-date=13 February 2024}}</ref>
===Political impact===
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