What did the Emancipation Proclamation specifically not impact?

The Emancipation Proclamation, issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, specifically declared that all slaves in states that were in rebellion against the Union (rebel states) would be set free. However, it did not apply to slaves in border states that remained loyal to the Union, such as Kentucky, Missouri, Maryland, and Delaware, because these states were not in rebellion and were vital to the Union's strategic interests.

The Proclamation was a wartime measure aimed at weakening the Confederate states by depriving them of their labor force, but it intentionally exempted border states to maintain their loyalty and support for the Union. As a result, while the Proclamation played a crucial role in the abolition of slavery overall and changed the nature of the Civil War by adding moral weight to the Union's cause, it had no legal effect on the enslaved populations of loyal border states.