the Emancipation Proclamation
/ði ɪˌmænsɪˈpeɪʃn prɒkləmeɪʃn/
/ði ɪˌmænsɪˈpeɪʃn prɑːkləmeɪʃn/
- the statement made by President Abraham Lincoln on 22 September 1862 that all slaves in the Confederate States were 'forever free' (although it had no actual power to make them free). After this statement the Civil War became a fight against slavery, which brought support for the Union side from many people in England and France, and it became possible for black people to serve in the army and navy. The Proclamation led in 1865 to the Thirteenth Amendment to the American Constitution, which officially ended slavery in all parts of the US.
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the Emancipation Proclamation