Emancipation Proclamation
 | Issued by Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation declared "all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free." Although the Emancipation Proclamation did not end slavery, it did change the basic character of the Civil War. Instead of waging a war to restore the old Union as it was before 1861, the North was now fighting to create a new Union without slavery. The proclamation also authorized the recruitment of African Americans as Union soldiers. By the end of the Civil War, approximately 180,000 African Americans had served in the Union army and 18,000 in the navy. |
| American Memory Historical Collections |
| Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress The Emancipation Proclamation special presentation provides an essay, timeline and Lincoln’s first and final draft of the Emancipation Proclamation, as well as the final version issued on January 1, 1863. Search the Abraham Lincoln Papers using the word "emancipation" to find additional documents related to the Emancipation Proclamation. |
The African-American Experience in Ohio, 1850-1920
African American Perspectives: Pamphlets from the Daniel A. P. Murray Collection, 1818-1907
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A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation
From Freedom to Slavery: The African-American Pamphlet Collection
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The Nineteenth Century in Print
"We'll Sing to Abe Our Song!": Sheet Music about Lincoln, Emancipation, and the Civil War
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