Courtesy of Library of Congress, Lincoln, Abraham, "Abraham Lincoln papers: Series 1. General Correspondence. 1833-1916: Abraham Lincoln, Thursday, January 01, 1863 (Final Emancipation Proclamation--Final Draft [Lithograph Copy])," 1 January 1863
Description
President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, as the nation approached its third year of bloody civil war. The proclamation declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free." But it was not until the 13th Amendment that slavery was made illegal in the United States.
Full Transcript of the Emancipation Proclamation
Transcribed Excerpt from the Emancipation Proclamation
Source-Dependent Questions
- What did the Emancipation Proclamation declare for African Americans?
- What did the document declare for treatment of freed enslaved people?
- What did Abraham Lincoln declare for African Americans as soldiers?
Citation Information
Lincoln, Abraham, "Abraham Lincoln papers: Series 1. General Correspondence. 1833-1916: Abraham Lincoln, Thursday, January 01, 1863 (Final Emancipation Proclamation--Final Draft [Lithograph Copy])," 1 January 1863. Courtesy of Library of Congress