The Emancipation Proclamation was signed by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863. This executive order declared that all persons held as slaves within the rebellious Confederate states "are, and henceforward shall be free"
. Additionally, Lincoln issued a preliminary version of the proclamation earlier on September 22, 1862, which announced the intent to free slaves in the rebelling states if they did not return to the Union by January 1, 1863
. The final proclamation took effect on January 1, 1863, marking a pivotal moment in the Civil War and the movement toward ending slavery in the United States.
