Read the following excerpt from the Emancipation Proclamation: And by virtue of the power, and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free; and that the Executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons.

To which states do the words “designated States, and parts of States” refer?

A. Northern states

B. loyal slave states

C. all slave states

D. rebel slave states