Did Abraham Lincoln really want to free the slaves?

Due to growing up in the North, Abraham Lincoln did not agree with slavery. This is not why he created the Emancipation Proclamation. He created this because he knew that the South and the North would never truly agree if the issue of slavery was still present. So, he ended slavery to rid of the arguement and to try and unite the country once more. From this i come to the conclusion that it was never really about freeing slaves, he just wanted to unite the country.