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The Emancipation Proclamation was very carefully worded to not free anyone anywhere at the time of its writing!

The Emancipation Proclamation only freed the slaves inside states in rebellion (i.e. Confederacy) and not controlled by Union troops. These states obviously ignored the Emancipation Proclamation and did not free any slaves. At the time the Emancipation Proclamation was written Union troops did not control any of those states.

The Emancipation Proclamation explicitly permitted states that had stayed in the Union to keep their slaves. This was because if the Emancipation Proclamation freed such slaves then these states would probably leave the Union and join the Confederacy. Lincoln could not afford to have that happen!

In fact the Emancipation Proclamation was a Propaganda document to encourage European support for the Union, and it was not expected to have any effect on either slave masters or enslaved people.

Actually freeing the enslaved people would have to wait until after the war.

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Oma O'Reilly

Lvl 13
3y ago

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