We show our sympathy with slavery by emancipating slaves where
we cannot reach them and holding them in bondage where we can
set them free. The Emancipation Proclamation was an executive
order issued on January 1, 1863 by President Abraham Lincoln. In
the midst of the American Civil War, it proclaimed the
emancipation of slaves in areas of the Confederate States of
America not under Union control. The initial proclamation,
issued September 22, 1862, warned that all slaves in states
still in rebellion as of January 1, 1863 would be emancipated.
However, the final proclamation, issued January 1, 1863
specifically exempted from emancipation all slaves in areas
where the Union army had control, including many counties in
Virginia and the entirety of Tennessee. Furthermore, all slaves
in Union states, such as Delaware, Kentucky, and Maryland, were
unaffected. In his first inaugural address, Lincoln said: I have
no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the
institution of slavery in the States where it