Emancipation Proclamation..American Civil War?
Because the South was The Confederate States of America, they did not need to obey the rules of the Emancipation Proclamation.
When the South lost the war, what caused them to lose their slaves? Was it the EP or something else?
Please list sources.
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You've hit the nail on the head in terms of the effectiveness of the Emancipation. It was a master stroke, the Emancipation freed the slaves in one fell swoop. Overnight all the slaves were free. Or so we tend to be taught in school.
Just one small problem, which we are more likely to learn in college. The wording of the Emancipation only freed the slaves in those states in open rebellion against the federal government. It's rather conveniently overlooked that the border states were slave states still within the Union. And the Emancipation did not effect the slaves in these states. Had it done so the border states might have been lost as well.
And the slaves in states in open rebellion? Well, although the Confederacy was fighting for it's independence, it was still it's own nation. Meaning that it governed itself, it was not governed by the US federal. So the Confederacy did not have to obey any law or bill passed by the federal government.
What was the real reason for the Emacipation? As stated, the Confederacy was fighting for it's independence. So despite the fact that it was it's own nation, it was not a free nation yet. By wording the Emancipation the way he did, Lincoln reminded folks that the Confederacy was technically a part of the US and was in rebellion against the federal government. Any laws passed that the Confederacy did not obey meant that it's actions in relation to those laws were there by unlawful. In otherwords, when the Emancipation went into effect on January 1, 1863 federal troops were therefore enforcing the law in those parts of the country that would not obey.
At was not until December 6, 1865 with the passing of the 13th amendment did slavery actually become illegal.
The Emancipation Proclamation did not free any slaves. It provided that those slaves still living in states in rebellion were free. The Union could not enforce that statement until the state was actually taken over by Union forces. The EP was a master political strategy to get public support for the war and to keep Great Britain from helping the Confederacy. Slavery was abolished in the United States by the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.