Yes, all true, but what people don't acknowledge enough today is that Lincoln did not create the Union gov policies alone, but he had to also abide much of the will of Congress, which had substantial amounts of "Radical Republicans" as members during and after his term. Many of these WERE ardent abolitionists, e.g. Thaddeus Stevens, Charles Sumner, John C Fremont, Schuyler Colfax, Benjamin Wade, Benjamin Butler, John P Hale, etc. THESE are the people we have to thank for the 13th, 14th & 15th Amendments, not Lincoln.