What did the Emancipation Proclamation result in?

he proclamation declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free.

The proclamation declared that all enslaved people in states or regions in active rebellion against the Union were to be set free. This applied specifically to the Confederate states, where Lincoln had limited direct control but sought to weaken the Confederacy's resources and labor force.

The Emancipation Proclamation was an important point in the American Civil War. Previously, although the northern states had a moral objection to slavery, it came under states' rights jurisdiction so they couldn't legally fight against it i.e. we don't approve of what they do, but we can't force them to stop. The Emancipation Proclamation, made three years into the bloody war, was important as it showed now there was no turning back from this point of conflict - Abraham Lincoln had used his powers as President to go above the authority of states' rights and allowed the vast majority of slaves to free themselves legally and join the Union army. Previously, there was a general sense that the North were fighting to maintain the status quo (uphold the Union) but from this moment on, the war effort from the North was forged around a very strong, concrete commitment - END SLAVERY. No ifs, no buts.

There was much celebration in the Union - naturally especially strong on those committed to the abolition of slavery for decades - but also some fears that it would strengthen the resistance of the South and that any remaining fence-sitters sympathetic to the Confederate cause would now join and thus lead to further extension of the bloody conflict - like a cornered animal with no where to go. There was now no way for slavery to continue in the South and go back to the way it was before without a complete military victory over the North.

There is also an argument that the date is more significant for historians as a marker point than it actually was for the slaves at the time - according to some modern historians, many of the slave areas had already seen massive losses as African-Americans were fleeing ever since the war started in large numbers (and before also). The Underground Railroad is a famous example of the secretive, extra-legal ways slaves could flee from their masters in the South and become free men. So, perhaps at the time, the effect on the ground was not quite as impactful as was traditionally thought.

In legal and governmental matters though, the Emancipation Proclamation can be seen as the beginning of the next phase of history for African-Americans in the country. As once the genie was out of the bottle, in terms of slavery being officially outlawed across the whole country, it started the legal process of Reconstruction - building the new post-slavery society. Reconstruction is a separate complex topic but in short it involved the building the idea of a better South where every man truly was free no matter what race they were. This is the theory anyway, the lives of millions of African Americans in the south remained extremely difficult in Reconstruction era. But it is undeniable that legally speaking, the Emancipation Proclamation was an important moment for freedom.