Why did the emancipation proclamation only apply to states outside of the union

Answer 1

The Emancipation Proclamation, issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, declared the freedom of all enslaved people in the Confederate states during the American Civil War. However, it did not immediately free all enslaved individuals throughout the entire United States.

The Emancipation Proclamation was a military order with the goal of weakening the Confederacy. As such, it applied only to the states that had seceded from the Union and were in active rebellion against the United States. Lincoln used his authority as Commander-in-Chief to issue the proclamation under his war powers, targeting the territories under Confederate control rather than those that remained loyal to the Union.

The proclamation exempted areas under Union control or where Union armies had prevailed. This meant that slavery remained legal in the border states (Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri) that remained loyal to the Union. It was a strategic decision by Lincoln to avoid alienating these states, as their support was crucial for the Union's war effort.

Furthermore, by focusing on Confederate territory, Lincoln sought to portray the Civil War as a fight to preserve the Union rather than a war against slavery. The proclamation was framed as a military necessity to cripple the Confederacy, rather than a moral or legal condemnation of slavery as an institution.

The Emancipation Proclamation, however, laid the foundation for the eventual abolition of slavery throughout the United States. It shifted the purpose of the Civil War and made abolition a goal of the Union. Moreover, it set the stage for the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1865, which formally abolished slavery nationwide.