Which of the following best describes the purpose of the Emancipation Proclamation?

The purpose of the Emancipation Proclamation is best captured by the idea that it aimed to free slaves in areas rebelling against the Union. Issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, the proclamation specifically targeted enslaved individuals in the Confederate states that were in rebellion. It declared that all slaves in those areas were to be set free, thereby giving a moral imperative to the Civil War and encouraging enslaved people to escape or fight for their freedom.

This action was also strategic; by undermining the Confederate economy, which relied heavily on slave labor, Lincoln aimed to weaken the Confederacy's ability to sustain the war. The Emancipation Proclamation did not apply to slave-holding border states that remained loyal to the Union, nor did it free all slaves in the United States at that moment. Instead, it was primarily a war measure intended to bolster the Union's military efforts and to change the character of the war into a struggle for freedom, transforming it into a fight not only for unity but also for emancipation.