The Constitution did not give Lincoln the power to end slavery, but it did give him the power to take property from an enemy in wartime. By the federal law, slaves were considered property. On September 22, 1862, Lincoln announced he would issue the Emancipation Proclamation. This freed all enslaved people in a rebel-held territory on January 1, 1863. However, the Emancipation Proclamation did not change the lives of all the enslaved people overnight. Enslaved people living in the loyal border states remained in bondage. Others remained under direct control in the South and decided to wait for a Union victory before gaining freedom.