What was one major result of the battle of antietam answers?

This unexpected Northern win gave Lincoln the credibility to issue the Emancipation Proclamation without making it look like a desperate measure. The Proclamation made it ethically impossible for Britain to aid the Confederates - a most significant outcome. The battle also spelt the end for McClellan. Although he had won the battle, he failed to pursue and destroy the Army of Northern Virginia, which the whole of Lincoln's cabinet thought he should have done, and he was promptly replaced by Burnside.