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Primary sourceDocument1 January 1863

Emancipation Proclamation

Abraham Lincoln · 1 January 1863

Lincoln's 1863 executive order declaring enslaved people in Confederate-held states free and opening the Union army to Black soldiers.

Lincoln's central wartime act against slavery, issued under his authority as president and commander-in-chief.

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Page 5 of the Emancipation Proclamation: handwritten closing text 'one thousand eight hundred and sixty three, and of the Independence of the United States of America the eighty-seventh', signed 'Abraham Lincoln', 'By the President', 'William H. Seward, Secretary of State', with a faded wafer seal on brown ribbons at upper left.
Emancipation Proclamation, signed by Abraham Lincoln, 1 January 1863. U.S. National Archives.

About this source

What it is

Issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, during the Civil War, this proclamation declared that enslaved people in states still in rebellion against the United States were free. It also allowed formerly enslaved people to join the Union armed forces. The original document is held by the U.S. National Archives.

Why it matters

The proclamation changed the legal status of millions of enslaved African Americans and turned the Civil War into a fight against slavery, not just a fight to preserve the Union. It also shows the limits of Lincoln's power at the time, since it did not apply to slave-holding states loyal to the Union.

Look closer

  • Why do you think Lincoln used his power as 'Commander-in-Chief' and called it a 'war measure' rather than a moral law?
  • Why did the proclamation exempt loyal slave states and some Union-controlled areas?
  • What does the handwritten, signed page tell you about how official U.S. government documents were made in 1863?

This document is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Abraham Lincoln on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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