Amendment

In an earlier posted titled "Free at Last" I said that if Lincoln had freed the slaves as is popularly thought, there would have been no need for the 13th Amendment. But on second thought, I recognize the need to codify the abolition of slavery and make it part of the central governing text which is the Constitution. But the truth still remains that slavery was legal in the United States until the ratification of the 13th Amendment in 1865.

Actually that makes me wonder...if the Union forces had defeated the Confederacy early in war, before using Black troops, would slavery still have been abolished in 1865?