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Showing results 1 – 3 of 3
Glossary Term – Event
Emancipation Proclamation
President Lincoln issued his official Emancipation Proclamation, declaring “all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State . . . in rebellion against the United States . . . thenceforward and forever free.” Slaves in loyal areas (including the Border States) were not freed by the proclamation, as Lincoln believed that he only had the power to issue the proclamation “as a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing said rebellion” (though he would soon press for the emancipation of all slaves with the Thirteenth...
Glossary Term – Event
Emancipation Proclamation draft
Abraham Lincoln revealed to his Cabinet his plans to issue an emancipation proclamation and submitted a draft of the document to them. Secretary of State William H. Seward advised Lincoln to wait to issue the proclamation until after a Union military success to avoid it being seen as a desperate measure. Lincoln heeded Seward’s advice, putting the proclamation away until after the Union victory at Antietam in September.