The Emancipation Proclamation was issued as a presidential proclamation by president Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, as a measure of war during the Civil War. The proclamation gave all slaves held in Confederate lands their freedom and was not only directed to the Confederate States, but all segments o the Executive Branch of government in the United States, including the Army and Navy. The Proclamation itself did not compensate slave owners, nor did it free all slaves, or make the ex-slaves citizens. It did, however, make the eradication of slavery a war goal, along with reuniting the Union, and it ordered that those who were suitable among the freed slaves could enlist in the paid service of the United States armed forces, and that the Union army along with all Executive Branch segments respect and recognize the freedoms of the ex-slaves who did enlist. 20,000 to 50,000 slaves in Southern regions controlled by the Union were immediately emancipated.