Monday, January 8, 2018

Emancipation Proclamation

       The Emancipation Proclamation is a state paper issued by President Lincoln, January 1, 1863, by which all slaves in the states or parts of states actually engaged in rebellion and unrepresented in Congress, or not in possession of the Union armies, were declared free. It was justified as a "fit and necessary war measure" and had been contemplated by Lincoln for many months. When, in September, 1862, Lee was checked at the Battle of Antietam, Lincoln issued a preliminary statement announcing his intention of declaring the slaves free on January 1rst if the South in the meantime did not return to the Union. The final proclamation did not legally abolish slavery, but abolition was made effective by the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution.

Emancipation Proclamation by Lincoln.

Reproduction of the Emancipation Proclamation at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, Ohio

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