yet I have never understood that the Presidency conferred upon me an unrestricted right to act officially upon this judgment and feeling ... I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly that events have controlled me." [ 252 ] Lincoln's moderate approach succeeded in inducing border states, War Democrats and emancipated slaves to fight for the Union. The Union-controlled border states (Kentucky, Missouri, Maryland, Delaware and West Virginia) and Union controlled regions around New Orleans, Norfolk and elsewhere, were not covered by the Emancipation Proclamation. All abolished slavery on their own, except Kentucky and Delaware. [ 253 ] Since the Emancipation Proclamation was based on the President's war powers, it only included territory held by Confederates at the time. However, the Proclamation became a symbol of the Union's growing commitment to add emancipation to the Union's definition of liberty. [ 254 ] The Emancipation Proclamation greatly reduced the Confederacy's hope of getting aid from Britain or France. [ 255 ] By late 1864, Lincoln was playing a leading role in getting Congress to vote for the Thirteenth Amendment , which made emancipation universal and permanent. [ 256 ] Reconstruction Northern teachers traveled into the South to provide education and training for the newly freed population. Reconstruction began during the war, with the Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863 and continued to 1877. [ 257 ] It comprised multiple complex methods to resolve the war, the most important of which were the three " Reconstruction Amendments " to the