The Emancipation Proclamation Did Not End Slavery Nationwide

President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. It declared that all persons held as slaves within the rebellious states are, and henceforward shall be, free. The U.S. National Archives, which holds the original, points out that despite this expansive wording the proclamation was limited in many ways. It applied only to states that had seceded from the United States, leaving slavery untouched in the loyal border states. Most important, the freedom it promised depended upon Union military victory. In the Archives’ words, the proclamation did not end slavery in the nation. It did change the war. After January 1, 1863, every advance of federal troops expanded the domain of freedom, and by the end of the war almost 200,000 black soldiers and sailors had fought for the Union.