What enslaved people does the Emanci�pation Proclamation free? What people
does it not free?
The Emancipation Proclamation, issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, declared that all enslaved people in Confederate-held territory were to be considered legally free. It specifically targeted the slaves in areas under Confederate control during the American Civil War.
The Emancipation Proclamation did not immediately free all enslaved people in the United States. It only applied to those in Confederate-held territory, exempting the border states and regions already under Union control. This meant that enslaved individuals in states such as Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri were not immediately freed by the proclamation.
Additionally, the Emancipation Proclamation was a wartime measure and did not immediately grant full freedom to the enslaved people it targeted. Its effectiveness relied on the Union military's eventual victory and presence in those Confederate-held areas for the proclamation to be enforced and slavery abolished. It was a crucial step towards the eventual emancipation of all enslaved people in the United States.