Quote:
Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby
Effective January 1, 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation absolutely, positively did include Texas. It included ten states: South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina and he named each one in his speech.
It took a year and a half for Texan slaves to be informed that they were no longer slaves, and it took officials from New York and New Jersey to travel there and inform them of it because their own states' officials wouldn't tell them.
|
Yes, the Emancipation Proclamation was meant to include Texas, but it is said that Texas at that time did not believe that it was a part of the US and thus did nothing to free the slaves. Runaway slaves that made it to Union areas were considered free by the Union, but not by Texans. The EP did not legally abolish slavery. It basically was a war powers act that allowed the Union to free slaves in areas they controlled. It also allowed slavery to continue to exist in areas not in conflict i.e. border states that did not secede. Also, that EP was subject to cancellation by subsequent actions (Courts, Presidents, etc). That is where the 13th Amendment came into play. It legally abolished slavery. The US Senate approved it in 1864, the House in 1865, and required ratification of 3/4 of the states Dec 1865 .