jan 25, 1863 - Emancipation Proclamation

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On January 1, 1863 President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation which immediately freed all slaves in areas rebelling against the Union. The first to abolish slavery, Lincoln made the U.S. one of the last Western countries to do so as the Union was badly in need of a morale boost in the Civil War. Besides effectively ending slavery in America, the proclamation brought a new passion to the Union in the war as well as slaves and former slaves fighting the Confederacy.

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