Emancipation Proclamation

       The Emancipation Proclamation is a state paper issued by President Lincoln, January 1, 1863, by which all slaves in the states or parts of states actually engaged in rebellion and unrepresented in Congress, or not in possession of the Union armies, were declared free. It was justified as a "fit and necessary war measure" and had been contemplated by Lincoln for many months. When, in September, 1862, Lee was checked at the Battle of Antietam, Lincoln issued a preliminary statement announcing his intention of declaring the slaves free on January 1rst if the South in the meantime did not return to the Union. The final proclamation did not legally abolish slavery, but abolition was made effective by the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution.

Emancipation Proclamation by Lincoln.

Reproduction of the Emancipation Proclamation at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, Ohio

• A zoomable image of the Leland-Boker authorized edition of the Emancipation Proclamation held by the British Library
• Lesson plan on Emancipation Proclamation from EDSITEment NEH
• Text and images of the Emancipation Proclamation from the National Archives
• Emancipation Proclamation and related resources at the Library of Congress
• Mr. Lincoln and Freedom: Emancipation Proclamation
• First Edition Emancipation Proclamation in 1862 Harper's Weekly
• Chronology of Emancipation during the Civil War
• American Abolitionists and Antislavery Activists, chronology of Abraham Lincoln and emancipation
• Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation at the New York State Library – images and transcript of Lincoln's original manuscript of the preliminary proclamation
• The Emancipation Proclamation public domain audiobook at LibriVox