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Lincoln did not "proclaim" the freedom of all slaves in America; only the slaves in the Confederacy. The theory was to attempt to cripple the South economically if the slaves were to revolt. Obviously, he didn't actually have any power over the Confederacy, so the speech was purely symbolical, and was intended to boost morale among Union troops.

And yes, there were still slaves within the Union. Some of the border states still practiced slavery.

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12y ago

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