Plantation owners with slaves began thinking about purchasing slaves soon after sensing the war to avoid the price increases they suspected were coming. The Confederates believed they were fighting for freedom and slavery. Abolishing slavery wasn't exactly what Union soldiers fought for as it was ingrained in our heads during our school years. As the years passed and Union soldiers began to move south, on trails attached to Union soldiers, in the summer of 1862 thoughts of abolishing slavery became widely known, especially after the Emancipation Proclamation. Many soldiers began to see the abolition of slavery as the only way out of the war, as seen in the quote "The only way to put down this rebellion is to wound an instigator and his supporters. Slavery must be eliminated.. The time has come to march through this viper infestation with fire and sword, to free every slave”