Emancipation Proclamation

January 1, 1863

Presidential proclamation and executive order issued by Abraham Lincoln on 1 January 1863 during the American Civil War, changing the legal status of more than 3.5 million enslaved African Americans in the secessionist Confederate states from enslaved to free. It also authorized former slaves to be received into US armed service and provided the legal framework for liberation as Union armies advanced. The proclamation redefined the war from a struggle to preserve the Union into one focused on ending slavery and set the course for the Thirteenth Amendment.

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Battles 4

April 12, 1861 – April 9, 1865
American Civil War Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis
September 17, 1862
Battle of Antietam Robert E. Lee, George Meade, Clara Barton
May 18 – July 4, 1863
Siege of Vicksburg Ulysses S. Grant, John C. Pemberton, William Tecumseh Sherman
December 6, 1865
Thirteenth Amendment to US Constitution Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson

Battle sites 5

Key commanders

Confederates 7

Robert E. Lee · 1807–1870 John Bell Hood · 1831–1879 James Longstreet Lieutenant General, Commander of the First Corps (right wing) · 1821–1904 Stonewall Jackson Major General, Commander of the Second Corps (left wing) · 1824–1863 A. P. Hill Major General, Commander of the Light Division; arrived from Harpers Ferry · 1825–1865 John C. Pemberton Lieutenant General, Commander of the Confederate Army of Mississippi · 1814–1881 Jefferson Davis · 1808–1889

Union 12

George Meade · 1815–1872 Abraham Lincoln belligerent leader · 1809–1865 George B. McClellan · 1826–1885 Ambrose Burnside Major General, Commander of the IX Corps (left wing) · 1824–1881 Joseph Hooker Major General, Commander of the I Corps (right wing); wounded in action · 1814–1879 Edwin V. Sumner Major General, Commander of the II Corps (center) · 1797–1863 Ulysses S. Grant · 1822–1885 William Tecumseh Sherman Major General, Commander of the XV Corps · 1820–1891 James B. McPherson Major General, Commander of the XVII Corps · 1828–1864 Winfield Scott · 1786–1866 John Schofield · 1831–1906 Nathaniel Lyon · 1818–1861

Other 3

Abraham Lincoln · 1809–1865 Clara Barton nursed the wounded on the field · 1821–1912 Andrew Johnson head of state/government · 1808–1875