Emancipation Proclamation

Summary

Issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free." While it did not end slavery everywhere in the U.S., it was a crucial turning point in the Civil War, transforming the fight to preserve the nation into a battle for human freedom and setting the stage for the eventual abolition of slavery nationwide.