What did the Emancipation Proclamation do?

Answers from the USCIS list

Give one of these answers.

• freed the slaves
• freed slaves in the Confederacy
• freed slaves in the Confederate states
• freed slaves in most Southern states

Our explanation

During the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. “Emancipation” means freedom. “Proclamation” means announcement. It said enslaved people in most Southern states were free. These states had left the United States. They were called the Confederacy.

Remember it

Emancipation means freedom: the Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves.

Source

USCIS 2025 Study Guide (M-1175) p. 60: “The Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves in most Southern states. ‘Emancipation’ is another word for ‘freedom.’” p. 59: “11 states in the South left the United States”; they called their country the Confederate States of America.

• Civics (History and Government) Questions for the Naturalization Test (2008 version), rev. 08/21 (PDF, USCIS)

Last checked on September 29, 2026.

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