What did the Emancipation Proclamation do?

What did the Emancipation Proclamation do?

• A. Called for the freeing of slaves in the Confederate States
• B. Freed all enslaved people in the United States
• C. Ended slavery in the border states
• D. Abolished slavery in the United States by 1865

Answer: (A)

The Emancipation Proclamation is best understood as a wartime measure that declared freedom for enslaved people living in the Confederate states that were in rebellion against the United States, effective January 1, 1863. It reframed the Civil War around abolition by making emancipation a goal of the Union war effort and allowed Black soldiers to join the Union Army, further strengthening the Union cause. But it did not free enslaved people in the border states that remained in the Union or in areas already under Union control, and it did not abolish slavery throughout the United States. The nationwide abolition came later with the 13th Amendment in 1865.

The Emancipation Proclamation is best understood as a wartime measure that declared freedom for enslaved people living in the Confederate states that were in rebellion against the United States, effective January 1, 1863. It reframed the Civil War around abolition by making emancipation a goal of the Union war effort and allowed Black soldiers to join the Union Army, further strengthening the Union cause.

But it did not free enslaved people in the border states that remained in the Union or in areas already under Union control, and it did not abolish slavery throughout the United States. The nationwide abolition came later with the 13th Amendment in 1865.