The Emancipation Proclamation was a very famous speech that was given on January 1, 1863 by Abraham Lincoln. The emancipation proclamation was supposed to free all slaves on January 1st. The emancipation proclamation was also supposed to be protected by the armed forces of the Union and the not-anymore-slaves would be accepted in the armed forces. It also prohibited violence unless it was necessary for self-defense.
What the emancipation proclamation did not do was immediately free slaves. It freed slaves but it kind of took a while because the Confederacy was disobediant. also, it only took away the slaves from the Confederacy, not the border states. Lincoln wanted to keep the border states happy.
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