[214]
In the spring of 1863 Lincoln was sufficiently optimistic about upcoming military campaigns to think the end of the war could be near; the plans included attacks by Hooker on Lee north of Richmond, Rosecrans on Chattanooga, Grant on Vicksburg, and a naval assault on Charleston.[215]
Hooker was routed by Lee at the Battle of Chancellorsville in May, then resigned and was replaced by George Meade.[216] Meade followed Lee north into Pennsylvania and beat him in the Gettysburg Campaign, but then failed to follow up despite Lincoln's demands. At the same time, Grant captured Vicksburg and gained control of the Mississippi River, splitting the far western rebel states.[217]

Emancipation Proclamation
Main articles: Abraham Lincoln and slavery and Emancipation Proclamation
First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation of President Lincoln by Francis Bicknell Carpenter (1864) (clickable image—use cursor to identify)
The Federal government's power to end slavery was limited by the Constitution, which before 1865 was understood to reserve the issue to the individual states. 