What was the main factor in differentiating what states fell under the purview of the Emancipation Proclamation?

Answer 1

The primary factor for what states were impacted by the Emancipation Proclamation were those that were actively at war with the United States, referring to the states that had seceded from the union. Notably, this excluded border states such as Delaware and Kentucky and freed now slaves in these member states. President Lincoln, who issued this proclamation, wanted to dissuade these states from joining the Confederate States in seceding as he feared that ending slavery in these states would only cause these nations to leave the union and prolong the state of civil war. By targeting only the states that openly rebelled, these border states would not feel pressured to join the confederacy and could remain under union control. States that had already seceded were not going to free their slaves anyway which allowed this speech to denounce slavery without immediately targeting all slaves across the United States. It also served a crucial diplomatic purpose in denouncing sympathy for the Confederate cause abroad as they would have to admit to openly supporting slavery within the Confederate States of America, which was gradually becoming denounced across the world at this point in time.

Answer 2

Our sixteenth U.S. president, Abraham Lincoln, issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. It declared that any and all persons "held as slaves...are, and henceforward free." A cursory glance at the wording seems to imply all slaves were free. However, several factors limited the power of the Proclamation. It only applied to those states that had seceded from the Union to join the Confederate States of America (the Southern states that seceded, like Georgia and Alabama). Slaves in border states Maryland, Delaware, Kentucky, and Missouri were not covered by this proclamation. In addition, the document explicitly exempted parts of the Confederate states that were already under Union control by January 1, 1863 (such as northeastern North Carolina). Finally, the freedom promised in this document could only be fulfilled if the U.S. (Union) forces had a decisive military victory over the Confederate states.