Because England and France depended on the raw materials from the southern US states, the blockade was hurting their economies. Official declaration on January 1, 1863 Abraham Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation officially freeing all the slaves in the US and former territories of the US. England and France could not join the south or they would be supporting slavery, which had been outlawed for years in their countries. President Lincoln was re elected in 1864.