Following the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln faced numerous challenges and criticisms related to the policy. While it declared the freedom of enslaved individuals in the Confederate states, its immediate effects were limited due to the ongoing Civil War and the resistance from southern slaveholders. Lincoln’s decision was also influenced by various factors, including military strategy, public sentiment in the North, and issues surrounding the ineffective nature of the Union's war efforts in the early phases of the conflict.
This historical context raises the question of what Lincoln hoped to achieve with the Proclamation beyond just the liberation of enslaved people.