Also why didn’t Lincoln free ALL slaves, even those held by the yankees, if he was so anti-slavery. Why did he only “free” people over who he had no jurisdiction? It is well documented that Lincoln was a racist and believe the African slaves to be inferior. That’s not my belief, but Lincoln’s comments on that subject abound. If he really wanted to “free the slaves” he should have freed the one up north as well. He never did.
You’ll never hear me say Lincoln was so anti-slavery (he did say, if it took slavery to preserve the Union he would keep it...)... or that he wasn’t a racist. Some of the most ardent abolitionists of the time were also serious racists (and several were extremely brutal toward American Indians too).
The discussion was if the Emancipation Proclamation freed any slaves—and yes, it did, even if it was primarily a symbolic, political, even cynical, not practical, move.