What did the Emancipation Proclamation do?

• A. Freed all slaves in the United States
• B. Freed slaves living in rebellious states
• C. Abolished slavery nationwide
• D. Created the Freedmen's Bureau

Answer: (B)

The Emancipation Proclamation was a wartime executive order that declared enslaved people in states still in rebellion against the United States to be free. It did not apply to enslaved people in border states that stayed in the Union or in areas already under Union control. Because it targeted only Confederate-held territories, it did not abolish slavery nationwide—true abolition would come later with the 13th Amendment. It also wasn’t a measure created by Congress to establish aid for newly freed people; that help came later with the Freedmen’s Bureau. The proclamation did, however, shift the war’s aim toward ending slavery and opened the door for Black soldiers to serve in the Union Army, strengthening the Union. So the best description is that it freed slaves living in rebellious states.