What was the primary objective of the Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Abraham Lincoln?

The primary objective of the Emancipation Proclamation was to emancipate enslaved individuals in the Confederate states that were in rebellion against the Union. It was a strategic war measure that aimed to weaken the Confederacy by depriving it of its labor force, rather than a direct attempt to abolish slavery throughout the entire United States immediately.

While the Proclamation declared that all enslaved people in the Confederate states would be free as of January 1, 1863, it did not apply to enslaved individuals in the border states or in areas of the Confederacy that had already been captured by Union forces. Therefore, the Emancipation Proclamation was not issuing a blanket freedom for all enslaved individuals across the nation, nor was it aimed at addressing the status of slavery in the Northern states or resolving the conflict between the North and the South in any immediate capacity.

In essence, the Proclamation was part of Lincoln's broader strategy to weaken the Confederacy, gain support for the Union cause, and ultimately redefine the purpose of the Civil War to include the issue of slavery.