The fact is that the Emancipation Proclamation was as meaningless as a statement that 2+2=74 . . . but only in the Confederate states.
Yes, and considering how many of his actions were upheld by the Supreme Court I'd say well constrained.
The fact is that the Emancipation Proclamation was as meaningless as a statement that 2+2=74 . . . but only in the Confederate states.
Upwards of 200,000 black Union troops - most of whom were slaves when the Southern rebellion began - would probably disagree with you.
Since you seem to like Frederick Douglass, here's what he said about the Emancipation Proclamation:
Can any colored man, or any white man friendly to the freedom of all men, ever forget the night which followed the first day of January, 1863, when the world was to see if Abraham Lincoln would prove to be as good as his word? I shall never forget that memorable night, when in a distant city I waited and watched at a public meeting, with three thousand others not less anxious than myself, for the word of deliverance which we have heard read today. Nor shall I ever forget the outburst of joy and thanksgiving that rent the air when the lightning brought to us the emancipation proclamation. In that happy hour we forgot all delay, and forgot all tardiness, forgot that the President had bribed the rebels to lay down their arms by a promise to withhold the bolt which would smite the slave-system with destruction; and we were thenceforward willing to allow the President all the latitude of time, phraseology, and every honorable device that statesmanship might require for the achievement of a great and beneficent measure of liberty and progress.