Read this excerpt from Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. What inference, or conclusion, can you draw from this passag
e? I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States and parts of States are, and henceforward shall be, free; and that the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons. And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free to abstain from all violence, unless in necessary self-defense; and I recommend to them that, in all case when allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonable wages. And I further declare and make known that such persons of suitable condition will be received into the armed service of the United States to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service. And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind and the gracious favor of Almighty God.
I conclude that this proclamation is not an outright abolition of slavery, even though it settled liberation of slaves in the Southern states. It provided the chance to all slaves who would be able to flee from Southern states to get their freedom and, if they wanted, to enroll in the army. Lincoln didn't say that all slaves will be free, but only "all persons held as slaves within said designated States and parts of States". Obviously, it was a war measure, and not a civil rights act.
