Emancipation Proclamation

Table of Contents

Introduction & Top Questions References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images & Videos

Emancipation Proclamation, first reading

The remarkable resilience of enslaved people in colonial America

Examine African American soldiers' involvement in the American Civil War

How the Whitney Plantation teaches the history of slavery

Harper's Weekly: illustration of emancipated slaves

Read Next

Participants, some carry American flags, march in the civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, U.S. in 1965. The Selma-to-Montgomery, Alabama., civil rights march, 1965. Voter registration drive, Voting Rights Act

Riding Freedom: 10 Milestones in U.S. Civil Rights History

Close up of a hand placing a ballot in a ballot box. Election vote voter voting

Have Any U.S. Presidents Decided Not to Run For a Second Term?

What State Is Washington, D.C. In?

The United States Supreme Court building, Washington, D.C.

14 Questions About Government in the United States Answered

BALTIMORE, MD - AUGUST 16: People gather at the site where a statue dedicated to Robert E. Lee and Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson stood August 16, 2017 in Baltimore, Maryland. The City of Baltimore removed four statues celebrating confederate heroes from city

Pro and Con: Historic Statue Removal in the United States

Discover

The Sun Was Eaten: 6 Ways Cultures Have Explained Eclipses

An ancient egyptian hieroglyphic painted carving showing the falcon headed god Horus seated on a throne and holding a golden fly whisk. Before him are the Pharoah Seti and the goddess Isis. Interior wall of the temple to Osiris at Abydos, Egypt.

11 Egyptian Gods and Goddesses

The Battle of New Orleans, by E. Percy Moran, c. 1910. Andrew Jackson, War of 1812.

26 Decade-Defining Events in U.S. History

Adolf Hitler (Nazi, nazism, German leader).

9 Things You Might Not Know About Adolf Hitler

solar eclipse, sun, moon, astronomy, space

How Do You Tell the Difference Between Total, Annular, Solar, and Lunar Eclipses?

Young boys working in a thread spinning mill in Macon, Georgia, 1909. Boys are so small they have to climb onto the spinning frame to reach and fix broken threads and put back empty bobbins. Child labor. Industrial revolution

The Rise of the Machines: Pros and Cons of the Industrial Revolution

Eid al-Fitr

History & Society

Emancipation Proclamation

Q: What is the Emancipation Proclamation?

The Emancipation Proclamation was an edict issued by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln that freed the slaves of the Confederate states in rebellion against the Union.

Q: When was the Emancipation Proclamation signed?

The Emancipation Proclamation was signed on January 1, 1863.

United States [1863]

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Mar 1, 2024 • Article History

Emancipation Proclamation

See all media

Category: History & Society

Date:: January 1, 1863

Key People:: Abraham Lincoln

See all related content →

What is the Emancipation Proclamation?

When was the Emancipation Proclamation signed?

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)

Access the full article

Help support true facts by becoming a member.