what was the emancipation proclamation

The Emancipation Proclamation was an edict issued by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, during the American Civil War. It declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free." The proclamation applied only to states that had seceded from the Union, leaving slavery untouched in the loyal border states, and it also expressly exempted parts of the Confederacy that had already come under Northern control. Despite its limitations, the Emancipation Proclamation was a significant step toward the end of slavery in the United States, and it fundamentally transformed the character of the war by redefining its goals and allowing Black men to join the Union Army and Navy