Technically the EP freed slaves in southern areas not under Federal control
Border states and southern areas under Union occupation were exempted
They did not want blacks freed where they still needed them under a firm hand or what hell to do with them
Funny how the Parse was in use even then....politicians are what they are
And the myth of history runs with it
I wonder how Obama will be excused away given his specialness
Its not that Lincoln didn’t want to free the slaves in MO,KY,MD, or DE. He had not Constitutional authority to do so. The 1857 Dred Scott v. Sanford decision by the Supreme Court specifically stated that the Federal Government had not authority to interfere with slavery in any state where it was legal. Lincoln spent considerable time and energy during the war to try an persuade these four states to outlaw slavery. The only state to do so was Maryland in Oct 1864.