The Confiscation Acts themselves did not do much but laid the legal and social groundwork for the Emancipation Proclamation which would come in the following year.
Lincoln was able to capitalize on the reaction to the Confiscation Act to feel comfortable enough to push forward the Emancipation Proclamation, which applied to all slaves in rebel held territory.
They sent in Contras, Right-wing American forces, to Nicaragua despite it being illegal at this point through the Boland Amendment. This also exposed to Iran-Contra scandal when America and Iran had trade weapons to support each other.
They gave us cheap work to help us build stuff