The Emancipation Proclamation, issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, declared that all persons held as slaves in the Confederate states "in rebellion against the United States" were to be "henceforward, and forever free"
. This executive order applied only to the ten Southern states still in rebellion and did not free slaves in the loyal border states or parts of the Confederacy already under Union control
. While it did not immediately end slavery nationwide or make it illegal, the proclamation was a crucial war measure aimed at weakening the Confederacy by depriving it of slave labor and encouraging enslaved people to escape and join the Union Army
. It also authorized the enlistment of freed slaves into the Union military, significantly bolstering Union forces with nearly 200,000 black soldiers and sailors by the war's end
. The Emancipation Proclamation transformed the character of the Civil War, shifting the Union’s war aims to include the abolition of slavery alongside preserving the nation
. It paved the way for the eventual abolition of slavery through the 13th Amendment, which was ratified in December 1865 and made slavery unconstitutional throughout the United States
. In summary, the Emancipation Proclamation:
- Freed slaves in Confederate states still in rebellion
- Allowed freed slaves to join the Union military
- Changed the Civil War into a fight against slavery
- Set the stage for the 13th Amendment and the permanent abolition of slavery
