1863
Washington, DC, DC · On map
President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, declaring all enslaved people in Confederate-held territory to be free. While it did not immediately end slavery everywhere, it transformed the Civil War into a fight against slavery and enabled 178,000 African Americans to serve in the Union Army[9]. The proclamation was a landmark policy victory that shifted federal stance on racial equality during wartime[9].
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