>>95641048In Lincoln's words the Proclamation was "a practical war measure, to be decided upon according to the advantages or disadvantages it may offer to the suppression of the rebellion.” And he also reasoned that it would make Europe sympathetic to the Union, as some European nations were considering supporting the Confederacy. Lincoln reasoned that the Proclamation would "convince them that we are incited by something more than ambition."
The Emancipation Proclamation only declared slaves in states "in rebellion against the United States" to be free. Slaves in states not in rebellion, like Delaware, Kentucky, etc., remained enslaved.
“We show our sympathy with slavery by emancipating slaves where we cannot reach them and holding them in bondage where we can set them free.”
-Lincoln’s secretary of state, William Seward
