Final answer:
The Emancipation Proclamation had a limited immediate effect on slaves, but as Union troops penetrated further South, many slaves fled to freedom. Strategically, it bolstered Union forces with nearly 200,000 Black soldiers and shifted the war aim to the explicit abolition of slavery, undermining international support for the Confederacy.
Step-by-step explanation:
Effects of the Emancipation Proclamation
When the Emancipation Proclamation took effect in January 1863, initial impact on slaves was minimal as it only applied to those in the Confederate states, where owners did not abide by federal law. However, as Union troops advanced, slaves began to leave plantations, some redistributing property, while many fled to Union camps, with figures like General Ulysses S. Grant witnessing their escape to freedom.
The British government distanced itself further from recognizing the Confederacy, nearly 200,000 Black soldiers joined Union forces, and this bolstered military capacity and morale, with the fight turning increasingly against the Confederacy.
The proclamation was denounced by the South as an incitement to riot and dismissed by critics in the North; some saw it as more strategy than principle since it freed slaves only in the rebelling regions. Regardless, it marked a shift in the Civil War's goal to the unequivocal abolition of slavery. Lincoln's endorsement of enlisting freed slaves into the army and his later statements made clear the war was to end slavery.
Secretary of State William Seward's criticism, "Where he could, he didn't. Where he did, he couldn't," underscores the mixed reception of the Proclamation, which strategically refrained from freeing slaves in Union-held Southern areas to maintain political support. Nonetheless, Lincoln's resolve to use the Proclamation for military advantage was clear, as his belief grew that emancipation would crippleshoot the Confederacy's ability to wage war.