Lincoln signs the Emancipation Proclamation and it goes into effect January 1, 1863 (dec 22, 1862 – dec 22, 1862)
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President Lincoln issued the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that as of January 1, 1863 "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."
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