That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom."
--Abraham Lincoln, 1863
What effect did this statement from Abraham Lincoln have on the nation?
A) It freed the slaves in the rebellious states.
B) It resulted in South Carolina seceding from the Union.
C) It brought about the surrender of the Confederate States.
D) It freed Cherokee and Creek Indians who had been forcibly placed on reservations.
