What did the slaves on the Union side feel about the Emancipation Proclamation?
What about the Confederates? -Brent Enslaved people on both sides of the war were overjoyed with the proclamation. Those in the Confederacy understood that they would not get their freedom until the Union troops arrived or until they made their way to the Union lines. But they did not care. They were delighted that the president was supporting their desire for freedom. Those on the Union side were just as happy. Although enslaved people in certain areas of Louisiana and Virginia and in Tennessee and the border states were not freed by the proclamation, they realized that their own freedom would not be far away. Douglass said, once slaves were free in Virginia, Maryland could not be far behind. Dr. Edna Greene Medford Howard University ********** My students want to know if Lincoln owned slaves??? This is a debatable topic in my classroom. -Civil War Class at Ilion High School, Ilion, NY -Elizabeth T., Saint Joan of Arc, Indianapolis, IN Lincoln never owned slaves. Dr. Edna Greene Medfo
