What did the Emanicipation of Declaration do?

Answer 1

The Emancipation Declaration, declared all slaves in territories then in rebellion against the U.S. "henceforth and forever free", as of January 1, 1863, and ordered the armed forces of the U.S. to carry it into effect. (It also authorized them to accept any willing black men into the armed forces, an offer nearly 200,000 accepted.) From this point on, the Union army accepted and protected any fleeing slaves (no longer returning them to their masters), and freed the slaves in every territory they were able to take control of. Thus, as the war moved forward, it led to the release of nearly all the slaves in these territories.

Note that this Proclamation was an exercise of Lincoln's "war powers" as Commander-in-chief. He had great freedom to take any such step that would weaken those at war with the U.S. (in this case, depriving the Confederacy of labor that supported their war efforts). Lincoln did not have any Constitutional authority to free slaves in areas not at war with the U.S. govt., which is a major part of why they were not included in the proclamation. However, from the end of 1861 on Lincoln urged the slave (border) states still in the Union (Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, Missouri) to pass their own legislation to free their slaves. Most eventually did so. In addition, he pushed for the passing of the 13th amendment (recommended by Congress in January 1865, finished ratification by states in December 1865), to end slavery forever throughout the U.S. and its territories. (Slaves in Washington D.C. -- the only area Congress & the President had Constitutional authority to do this -- were freed by a bill Lincoln signed on April 16, 1862.)