What was the Emancipation Proclamation?

The Emancipation Proclamation (Proclamation 95) was a presidential proclamation and executive order issued by United States President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863. As the USA approached its third year of bloody civil war, Proclamation 95 declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free." This proclamation changed the federal legal status of more than 3.5 million enslaved African Americans in the designated areas in ten states of the South from slave to free.

Although the Emancipation Proclamation did not end slavery in the nation, it captured the hearts and imagination of millions of Americans and fundamentally transformed the character of the war. After January 1, 1863, every advance of federal troops expanded the domain of freedom. Moreover, the Proclamation announced the acceptance of black men into the Union Army and Navy, enabling the liberated to become liberators. By the end of the war, almost 200,000 black soldiers and sailors had fought for the Union and freedom.