a gesture of defiance, disrespect, or derision. Idioms. 2. cock a / one's snook, to thumb the nose: a painter who cocks a snook at traditional techniques.
Effect on the Civil War. The importance of the Emancipation Proclamation is that it altered the cause and reasons for the Civil War. At the onset, it was about the Unionâs attempt to bring the Confederates back into the fold. With the proclamation, things changed.
Obviously, this proclamation was important, showing that Abraham Lincoln was committed to allowing the states back into the Union. This would begin to forge the way towards healing and reunification at the end of the Civil War during the period of Reconstruction.