Question for DU historians, RE: Lincoln and slavery

[wyldwolf]

Watching Lincoln for the second time - absorbing a lot more than I did the first time. Brilliant scene where President Lincoln reasons out, then declares, his Constitutional powers regarding the Emancipation Proclamation. In principle it's very much like the debate raging now in Washington on whether President Obama has the constitutional authority for the executive orders he's given. In both cases Congress has fought and/or refused to act on needed legislation.

On the question of slavery, was there international pressure on the US to end slavery before the Civil War?