Emancipation Proclamation

Emancipation Proclamation refers to two executive orders which Abraham Lincoln issued as the Commander in Chief Army and Navy of United States of America and President of America.

The first executive order was issued on September 22, 1862. It was issued after the victory of Union Army in the Battle of Antietam on September 7, 1862. It declared that on January 1, 1863, slaves in areas then "in rebellion against the United States shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free."

The main significance was that it declared that slaves on the territories which at that time was fighting as Confederate of States, would be free. It did not refer to the slaves on the territories which were directly under the control of Union Army.

Secondly, after the 1862 proclamation, the Union Army started employing Africans in their army. It helped them to strengthen their war efforts.

The second executive order was issued on January 1, 1863. It proclaimed that in the states which were actually at that time rebellion against the United States of America, “all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free.”

At the end of Civil War, by thirteenth Amendment all the people held as slaves were declared free.