LAD #20: Emancipation Proclamation

Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation states that at the advent of 1863 all slaves in the states or the parts of states which are in open rebellion with the Union will henceforth be free. He declares that by the power vested in him as Commander-in-Chief he will both militarily and politically, as well as the federal government, support the rights and liberties of these free men against the rebellious states. He then goes on to define what states are in open rebellion which were Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, excluding certain counties, regions and other slave states not in open rebellion, including New Orleans. He also urges freed slaves to avoid violence and become members of society and labor peacefully for wages. As a final blow, he says that the military will accept these freed slaves and they may join the Union army and man stations against those in rebellion. This was his executive proclamation.