General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Abraham Lincoln WTF? [View all]Major Nikon
(36,925 posts)There's no question that the EP did a lot of things. What it didn't do was free a single slave simply because Lincoln had no power to do so. Prior to the EP slaves from union controlled areas were held as "contraband of war", and after the EP these slaves were released. Sherman and other generals also released thousands of other slaves. However, released and freed are not the same thing. At that time, slaves were considered property by both the North and the South. There were a number of laws at the time that fully supported slavery which hadn't been revoked. Until the 13th amendment was passed, the legal status of every one of those slaves was in question because the 5th amendment guarantees no property can be taken by the government without due process.