Emancipation Proclamation – January 1, 1863
Issued by Pres. Abraham Lincoln, the Emancipation Proclamation called for the freeing of the enslaved people in those states that were in armed rebellion against the Union. The proclamation did not free slaves in other areas of the country. This was the first true signal that the United States government saw the abolition of slavery as one of the goals to winning the Civil War.
