All Historians agree that the Civil War did not end with the Seven Days Battles. However, the Seven Days Battles would have been the end of the war if not for the military mishaps and lack of communication and misfortune by both sides. The result of Seven Days Battles, which was a stalemate, gave the Union a need to shift to a 'hard' war. Lincoln observed the peremptory determination of the Confederate forces. Lincoln realized that he needed to modify the war aims of the Union if he wanted to end the war and preserve the union. Although The Seven Days Battles were thought to be a stalemate from a military perspective, the outcome resulted in a new approach by the Union that ultimately led to the collapse of the Confederacy.
Lincoln knew that the Confederacy was not going to give up Richmond easily, but he thought he had a good chance of gaining control of Richmond by positioning his troops well and strategizing with his General George B. McClellan. He was always fearful that the Confederates would take Washington, so he was sure to always keep a bulk of Union troops between Washington and the Confederacy. As the Seven Days Battles continued, Lincoln grew skeptical of the Unions ability to take Richmond. In two of the most horrific battles, Gaines Mill and Malvern Hill, the confederates showed their desire to protect their Confederate capital. These two battles resulted in large amounts of casualties for both sides, but especially the Union who almost always had more men and reinforcements.
The Confederates defended themselves from the Union attacks and kept the Union away from Richmond. When Lincoln did not get the control of Richmond as a result of the Seven Days Battles, he realized that he needed to change his strategy to win the war. The Union shifted to a 'hard' or 'total' war strategy. The main shift in was not in military stratagem, but rather in political policy. As William Blair describes in his text The Seven Days and the Radical Persuasion: "Nearly two weeks after the Seven Days battles ended outside of Richmond, Abraham Lincoln revealed that he had changed his mind about emancipation… he now believed that emancipation 'was a military necessity absolutely essential for the salvation of the Union, that we must free the slaves or be ourselves subdued.'" (153)
The Union's shift to a 'hard' war resulted in their new approach to the war which was freeing the slaves and destroying rebel property. The Union army used slaves in their army as a way of using slaves against the Confederacy. As Blair explained, the radicals believed the "… the Union needed to use slaves in the army to deprive the South of a weapon and to preserve white soldiers of menial chores that could be life threatening in the hot southern climate. They adopted a racist approach that justified emancipation as benefitting white people more than African Americans." (154).
This new political war aim by the Union kept countries from overseas from entering the war on the side of the Confederacy. It also is evidence that Lincoln's main goal was to preserve the Union. He used his new slavery policy to limit the power of the Confederacy and use their system against them. Many slaves ran away to the North and since they were now allowed to join the army, they fought for their own freedom. Lincoln was concerned with freeing the slaves because it would mean that he could preserve the Union. As he so famously stated in one of his letters to Horace Greeley, "What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union." (http://www.brotherswar.com/Civil_War_Quotes_4c.htm)
The Seven Days Battles were the source of what motivated Abraham Lincoln to shift the Union to fighting a 'hard' war. This new strategy helped the Union to use the Confederate system of slavery ago end the war. It was a result of the Union forces being stopped from obtaining control of Richmond in the Seven Days Battles, that Lincoln switched his stance on emancipation that led to the north ending the war and preserving the Union.