jan 1, 1863 - Abraham Lincoln signs the Emancipation Proclamation during the second year of the American Civil War, making the abolition of slavery in the Confederate states an official war goal. It proclaims the freedom of 3.1 million of the nation's four million slaves and immediately frees 50,000 of them, with the rest freed as Union armies advance
Added to timeline:
Date:
jan 1, 1863
Now
~ 162 years ago