many slaves tried escaping from their owners, usually towards the north because that was the union while the south was the confederacy. though, slaves were used on both sides. in the south, slaves had, well, slave labor. in the north, slaves could volunteer in the military and have wage labor. they worked for the emancipation proclamation, which set 3 million black slaves free. the life of a slave was hard during the civil war, but it was alot of change as well. lots of things changed positively for them.