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The Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves in? A) All parts of the US B) Onl...

Nov 16, 2023

The Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves in? A) All parts of the US B) Only the border states C) Only the Confederate states D) Only the Union states

C

Key Concept

KC-5.2.II The Emancipation Proclamation, issued after the Union victory at the Battle of Antietam, declared that all slaves in the Confederate states would be forever free.

Explanation

The Emancipation Proclamation, issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free." It applied only to states that had seceded from the United States, leaving slavery untouched in the loyal border states. It also exempted parts of the Confederacy that had already come under Northern control. The main impact was that it added moral force to the Union cause and strengthened the Union both militarily and politically. As a war measure, it was a turning point in the war because it tied the issue of slavery directly to the war.