Why did the proclamation not actually free any slaves?
I assume you mean the proclamation Abraham Lincoln made in 1862.
It did free a few slaves, those who had runaway and were in holding camps by the Yankee army. But the proclamation "freed" slaves in the area that were not held by the North, so it had little effect at the time of the proclamation.
It freed slaves in the south but not the North because Lincoln didn't actually care about Americans having slaves he just wanted more fighters for a war he was loosing. So blacks went north to fight for the Union.even though they would soon find out that you would still be a slave in the north just not the south.
The Emancipation Proclamation, issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, was an important step towards the abolition of slavery in the United States. However, it did not immediately free all slaves for a few key reasons.
Firstly, it is important to understand the context in which the Emancipation Proclamation was issued. At the time, the United States was in the midst of the Civil War, a conflict between the Union (the Northern states) and the Confederacy (the Southern states). The Emancipation Proclamation was primarily a wartime measure, designed to weaken the Southern economy and undermine the Confederate war effort.
The proclamation declared that all slaves in Confederate-held territory were to be considered "forever free," but it did not actually free any slaves immediately. This was because the Confederate states did not recognize the authority of the Union government and thus did not comply with the proclamation. In fact, the proclamation explicitly stated that it applied only to areas under Confederate control, not to slave states that had remained loyal to the Union.
Therefore, the Emancipation Proclamation had limited practical impact on the ground at the time it was issued. However, it did have significant symbolic and political importance. It signaled a clear stance by the Union government against slavery and laid the foundation for future steps towards emancipation. It also set the stage for the eventual adoption of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution in 1865, which permanently abolished slavery throughout the United States.
In summary, while the Emancipation Proclamation did not immediately free all slaves, it was a milestone in the struggle for emancipation and played an important role in shaping the outcome of the Civil War and the eventual abolition of slavery in the United States.