Title: Emancipation Proclamation
Headings: Emancipation Proclamation Top Ten Facts
Emancipation Proclamation Top Ten Facts
Transcript of the Preliminary Proclamation
The Transcript of the Emancipation Proclamation
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Content: Also, they "... may voluntarily adopt, immediate or gradual abolishment of slavery within their respective limits ..." So, this document provided for the abolition of slavery, but did not give any timetable for its accomplishment. The official Emancipation Proclamation (transcript below) was issued on January 1, 1863, in which slaves held within the Confederacy were declared to be "... then, thenceforward, and forever free ..."
Slave holding states within the Union (Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, Missouri, and West Virginia - when it became a state in June 1863), as well as certain counties in Louisiana and Virginia which were under Union control were not included in the Emancipation Proclamation. These areas were addressed thus, "... which excepted parts, are for the present, left precisely as if this proclamation were not issued ." These slaves were not freed until the 13th Amendment was ratified in December 1865. Therefore, the Emancipation Proclamation didn't actually free any slaves. The slaves in the Confederacy weren't actually under Lincoln's control, and the slaves within the Union were specifically kept in slavery. The only freedom provided, was to those slaves within the Confederacy who could make their way across the Union lines, but there were other major impacts of the Proclamation. The Emancipation Proclamation made the abolition of slavery, at least within the Confederacy, a definite goal of the war. This was a shift from the previous official position that the war was to "Preserve the Union." Within the Emancipation Proclamation was a provision which allowed African-Americans to serve in the Union Army, "... such persons of suitable condition, will be received into the armed service of the United States ..." Obviously, with the abolition of slavery becoming an official goal of the war, there was a great incentive for African-Americans to join the Union Army.