The correct answer is A) realization that defeat meant the complete end of slavery.
The statement that correctly describes the reaction of the South to the Emancipation Proclamation is "realization that defeat meant the complete end of slavery."
On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued the document called Emancipation Proclamation. The United States was living in terrible moments because it has been three years since the beginning of the Civil War. The key aspect of the document is that it declared that slaves should be free. This was not goods news for the Confederated States because the proclamation was addressed to these Southern States. With this, Southern states knew that defeat in the war meant the complete end of slavery. And slavery was an important part of the economy in the Southern states.
