Emancipation Proclamation: End of Slavery in America

Emancipation Proclamation: 

It was a executive order issued by the United States President Abraham Lincoln on September 22, 1862, and effective as of January 1,1863. It changed the legal status under law of more than 3.5 million slaves in the confederate (southern rebellious states) from slave to free.

Background: 

Slavery (practice of owning humans as slaves) has been practiced in Colonial america and also continued after America’s independence in 1776. Under the law, an enslaved person was treated as property and could be bought, sold, or given away. In the mid-1800s, the economies of many northern states have moved away from farming to industry and they no longer needed slaves. However, the southern states had maintained a large farming economy and they heavily relied on slaves.

There was a civil war in america from 1961-1965 between Northern states (loyal to union) and Southern states (that has separated from the union and formed a Confederacy) due to various reasons such as conflicts regarding states rights, expansion of united states, presidency of Abraham Lincoln and many more. 

Lincoln’s advisors didn’t support the emancipation proclamation initially but Lincoln persuaded his cabinet members by suggesting it as a war measure because majority of the 3.5-4 million slaves were in confederate (southern) states and they were fighting on the behalf of southern states against the union (northern) states. 

Although the Proclamation initially freed only the slaves in the rebellious states, by the end of the war the Proclamation had influenced and prepared citizens to advocate and accept abolition for all slaves in both the North and South. The 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery in the United States, was passed on December 6th, 1865