Emancipation Proclamation - January 1, 1863 (jan 1, 1862 – may 12, 1862)

Description:

The Emancipation Proclamation declared that “all persons held as slaves are, and henceforth shall be free”. However, this was limited to the states that were still apart of the Union, not the states that seceded. The Emancipation Proclamation allowed slaves to fight in the Civil War which would strengthen the Union army by 200,000 men. Not only that, the Emancipation Proclamation would give the slaves a reason to fight, freedom, and to free their fellow enslaved friends in the south.