"Lincoln emancipated nobody. The man freed not a single slave"

This quote by L. Neil Smith is describing the fact that Abraham Lincoln did not actually free any slaves himself. Rather, he provided the Emancipation Proclamation, which stated that all slaves in the Confederate states were to be released. Nevertheless, the proclamation did not really complimentary any slaves, as it was not legally binding. It was just after the Thirteenth Amendment was passed that slavery was formally eliminated in the United States. For that reason, while Lincoln is frequently credited with freeing the slaves, it was really the Thirteenth Amendment that did so. Lincoln's proclamation was a crucial action in the procedure, however it was not the final one.