The Emancipation Proclamation is an important document from the 19th century. President Lincoln wrote it during the civil war and it was issued on January 1, 1863. Lincoln had many reasons for writing this, and one not being to free slaves. Lincoln issued this proclamation because he wanted to show the confederate states that they can't rebel and that he is still the president of the United States.
This was definitely not for humanitarian reasons. If it was, Lincoln would have freed all the slaves, not those primarily in the southern states. It sounded as if he was punishing a young child for playing in a store. Lincoln stated "power in me vested". I believe that he said this because he wanted to show them that the power was given to him by them and that he still had authority over them.
It wasn't really for military necessity either because it didn't really declare any form of war or something of that nation. It didn't state 'put down your arms or you'll lose your slaves', No, it said that they would lose their slaves in any way. The only thing that may have caused any military necessity was that Lincoln made it clear that he was the Commander in Chief, and I think he was saying I will use my army against you if you decide to take me on.
It seems more likely that Lincoln was actually secure his legacy. He was saying things like "I, Abraham Lincoln," and "power in me vested" and "Commander of Chief". It was almost as if he was showing off. He was showing the people of the Confederate States that there was no way they could defeat him.
The Emancipation Proclamation is more of an outline than anything else. It laid out how slavery should be dealt with and things of that nature. That is all that is important today. It's not important that it punished the south because we don't need them today. It doesn't matter that he threatened them with his power because we are no longer in the civil war. It's just one big outline for us to follow.
