USA HISTORY

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR(1861 1865)

THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION

[SOURCES]
Why didn’t the Emancipation Proclamation free any slaves?

(A) Because slavery was already illegal

(B) ** Because it didn’t free slaves in the regions that were actually under Confederate control

(C) Because Lincoln liked slavery

(D) Because slavery never happened

EXPLANATIONS BELOW

Concept note-1: -Because it was a military measure, however, the Emancipation Proclamation was limited in many ways. It applied only to states that had seceded from the Union, leaving slavery untouched in the loyal border states. It also expressly exempted parts of the Confederacy that had already come under Union control.

Concept note-2: -It is sometimes said that the Emancipation Proclamation freed no slaves. In a way, this is true. The proclamation would only apply to the Confederate States, as an act to seize enemy resources. By freeing slaves in the Confederacy, Lincoln was actually freeing people he did not directly control.

Concept note-3: -Although the Emancipation Proclamation did not immediately free a single slave, it captured the hearts and imagination of millions of African Americans, and fundamentally transformed the character of the war from a war for the Union into a war for freedom.