On September 22, 1862, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln announced a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that millions of enslaved people in Confederate-held territories would be freed.
When the American Civil War began in 1861, Lincoln’s main objective was to preserve the Union.
Although he opposed slavery, he initially avoided making abolition the central purpose of the war.
That changed after Union forces defeated Confederate troops at the Battle of Antietam in September 1862. Lincoln then announced that enslaved people in areas still in rebellion would be declared free from January 1, 1863.
Abraham Lincoln Entering Richmond PHOTO/Harold Holzer
The final Emancipation Proclamation took effect on that date. It also allowed Black men to join the Union Army and Navy, with about 180,000 serving in the army and another 18,000 in the navy.
The proclamation did not immediately end slavery across the United States because it applied mainly to areas under Confederate control.
Lincoln therefore supported a constitutional amendment to permanently abolish slavery.
The 13th Amendment was ratified in 1865, ending slavery throughout the United States.
The original final proclamation is preserved at the U.S. National Archives in Washington, D.C.
