Question

. Which of the following best explains the Emancipation Proclamation? A. It stated that slavery should be abolished at the end of the Civil War. B. It stated that all slaves in the Confederate states should be freed. C. It stated that all slaves in the Union and Confederacy were free. D. It stated that slavery would not be allowed in newly acquired territories

Answer 1

The correct answer is B. It stated that all slaves in the Confederate states should be freed.

The Emancipation Proclamation clearly stated that all slaves within the "rebellious states" (aka the Confederacy) should be freed. However, when the Emancipation Proclamation took place in 1863, the Confederacy considered itself an independent nation. This is why the Emancipation Proclamation did not free any slaves, as the Confederate States of America ignored Lincoln because they did not consider him their president.

Answer 2

Answer:  B. It stated that all slaves in the Confederate states should be freed.

Historical context/details regarding the Emancipation Proclamation:

President Abraham Lincoln issued The Emancipation Proclamation as an executive order on January 1, 1863. The executive order declared freedom for slaves in  ten Confederate states in rebellion against the Union.  It also allowed that freed slaves could join the Union Army to fight for the cause of reuniting the nation and ending slavery.  As summarized by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, "The Proclamation broadened the goals of the Union war effort; it made the eradication of slavery into an explicit Union goal, in addition to the reuniting of the country."

While Lincoln personally was strongly against slavery, he had to tread carefully in his role as president and commander-in-chief.  The Emancipation Proclamation was carefully worded in order to retain the support of four border slave states, which remained in the Union though they were states that permitted slavery, were  Maryland, Missouri, Delaware, and Kentucky.   Lincoln wanted to keep those states loyal to the Union cause.

The Emancipation Proclamation was also a way of blocking foreign support for the Confederate cause.  According to the American Battlefield Trust, "Britain and France had considered supporting the Confederacy in order to expand their influence in the Western Hemisphere. However, many Europeans were against slavery."  Britain had abolished slavery in its territories in 1833.  France had put a final end to slavery in its territories in 1848.  So when Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, it also served as a foreign policy action to keep European powers out of the US Civil War, according to Steve Jones, professor of history at Southwestern Adventist University.