Did Abraham Lincoln free the slaves?

Answer 1

Lincoln did not free all the slaves. Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed slaves in the eleven states who seceded from the Union during the Civil War. This would only be true when Union armies occupied a slave state. Slavery did not become illegal in the United States until the passing of the Thirteenth Amendment, eight months after Lincoln's assassination.

Answer 2

US President Lincoln did not legally free the slaves in the US. That, as he knew, required a constitutional amendment which was passed in December of 1865. His Emancipation Proclamation had no effect on the Union's border stares slaves. The Emancipation as a war measure allowed slaves freed due to Union military action to flee from their owners and go north and in ,many cases these former slaves were welcomed ( slowly ) in the US Army where they did an excellent job.