Hands Off Slavery in The Border States

[Bill Richter]

There is much historical argument over how many, if any, slaves the Emancipation Proc freed (I think 20,000 is the accepted number). Technically it applied only to areas in rebellion on Jan 1, 1863. This exempted Md, Mo, Ky, and Del plus any areas occupied by the Union Army, like coastal Virginia, some areas of NC, Ark, La and Tenn. W. Va, Mo, Md, freed their slaves by state action during the war, and Lincoln supported free state movements in all border states during the war without freeing any slaves himself. He regarded the Emancipation Proc of dubious constitutionality as a mere military-diplomatic measure and had Sec of St Seward float the proposed 13th amend through Congress in early 1865, which became valid in late 1865 as a part of Andrew Johnson's requirements for readmission of the ex Confed states into the new Union.