Slaves were legally freed in stages in the United States. The Emancipation Proclamation, issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, declared that all slaves in the Confederate states in rebellion were to be free. However, it only applied to states in rebellion and not to slaveholding border states loyal to the Union or areas already under Union control. This proclamation declared freedom as Union troops advanced into Confederate territory, effectively freeing slaves in those areas.
The full abolition of slavery across the United States was achieved with the ratification of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution on December 6, 1865, which abolished slavery throughout the entire country.
Additionally, the symbolic and actual final emancipation for many enslaved people in Texas occurred on June 19, 1865, when Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, and announced freedom for slaves there—this date is commemorated as Juneteenth, recognized as the day when the last enslaved African Americans in the Confederacy learned of their freedom.
