The Emancipation ProclamationIssued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, this famous document, printed here in its entirety, granted freedom to more than 3 million United States slaves.

« The Emancipation Proclamation Issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, this famous document, printed here in its entirety, granted freedom to more than 3 million United States slaves.Lincoln's decree was later made law by passage of the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1865. The Emancipation Proclamation By the President of the United States of America: A Proclamation. Whereas, on the twenty-second day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, a proclamation was issued by the President ofthe United States, containing, among other things, the following, to wit: “That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part ofa State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the Executive Government of theUnited States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress suchpersons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom. “That the Executive will, on the first day of January aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the States and parts of States, if any, in which the people thereof,respectively, shall then be in rebellion against the United States; and the fact that any State, or the people thereof, shall on that day be, in good faith, represented inthe Congress of the United States by members chosen thereto at elections wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such State shall have participated, shall, in theabsence of strong countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such State, and the people thereof, are not then in rebellion against the UnitedStates.” Now, therefore I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested as Commander-in-Chief, of the Army and Navy of the UnitedStates in time of actual armed rebellion against the authority and government of the United States, and as a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing saidrebellion, do, on this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and in accordance with my purpose so to do publiclyproclaimed for the full period of one hundred days, from the day first above mentioned, order and designate as the States and parts of States wherein the peoplethereof respectively, are this day in rebellion again the United States, the following, to wit: Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, (except the Parishes of St.

Bernard, Plaquemines, Jefferson, St.

John, St.

Charles, St.

James Ascension, Assumption, Terrebonne,Lafourche, St.

Mary, St.

Martin, and Orleans, including the City of New Orleans) Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, andVirginia, (except the forty-eight counties designated as West Virginia, and also the counties of Berkley, Accomac, Northampton, Elizabeth City, York, Princess Ann,and Norfolk, including the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth[)], and which excepted parts, are for the present, left precisely as if this proclamation were not issued. And by virtue of the power, and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are,and henceforward shall be free; and that the Executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize andmaintain the freedom of said persons. And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free to abstain from all violence, unless in necessary self-defence; and I recommend to them that, in all caseswhen allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonable wages. And I further declare and make known, that such persons of suitable condition, will be received into the armed service of the United States to garrison forts,positions, stations, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service. And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution, upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind,and the gracious favor of Almighty God. In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington, this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty three, and of the Independence of the United States of America the eighty-seventh. By the President: Abraham Lincoln William H.

Seward, Secretary of State. Source: National Archives and Records Administration Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation.

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