What did the proclamation decree?

Answer 1

It proclaimed in a grandiose fashion that Southern slaves would be 'thenceforward and forever free' - just when Lincoln's government carried no authority in the Southern states.

However, it was the beginning of total war, as it gave Union troops the right to rob the enemy of his property - which included slaves. Those slaves followed the armies back to their camps, and were given jobs there. The obvious conclusion was that if the North won the war, those slaves could never be returned to their one-time owners.

Answer 2

During the American Civil War, the purpose of the Emancipation Proclamation (announced by President Lincoln on January 1, 1863) was to free all slaves in the secessionist states of the South. While the Proclamation did not abolish slavery as an institution nor free all slaves, it was a vital step in that direction.

Answer 3

If the question pertains to Union President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, then the answer is that Lincoln issued it twice. Once in September 1863, after the fall of Atlanta and again in January of 1864. The first Proclamation gave all States in rebellion to free their slaves and make a return to the Union. No Confederate State took up Lincoln's offer. In January he issued the Proclamation freeing all slaves in the Confederacy, but not slaves that were loyal to the Union.

Since the Proclamation in January 1864 was meant for the Confederacy, it had no legal affect as the Union did not have the power to free the South's slaves.

During the Civil War, many slaves did desert to the North and some became Union soldiers.

Answer 4

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