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Emancipation Proclamation
United States [1863]
Recent News
Dec. 30, 2023, 8:49 AM ET (AP)
What does Watch Night mean for Black Americans today? It dates back to the Emancipation Proclamation
Top Questions
What is the Emancipation Proclamation?
When was the Emancipation Proclamation signed?
How did the Emancipation Proclamation affect African Americans?
Emancipation Proclamation, edict issued by U.S. Pres. Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, that freed the slaves of the Confederate states in rebellion against the Union. It took more than two years for news of the proclamation to reach the slaves in the distant state of Texas. The arrival of the news on June 19 (of 1865) is now celebrated as a national holiday—Juneteenth or Emancipation Day. (Read Charles Blow’s Britannica essay on the Juneteenth holiday.) Before the start of the American Civil War, many people and leaders of the North had been primarily concerned merely with stopping the extension ...(100 of 550 words)