jan 1, 1863 - Emancipation Proclamation

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.” However, the speech did not exactly free a single slave although it was a huge turning point in the American Civil war. In total America at the time had roughly 4 million African- American slaves. By the time the Emancipation Proclamation had become properly, enforced 3.1 million of those were freed and proceeded to live a normal life.