Emancipation Proclamation

Definition

An executive order issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863 during American Civil War declaring that all enslaved people in Confederate territory were to be set free.

Related terms

Slavery: A system where individuals known as slaves are treated as property and forced into labor without consent or pay.

Confederate States of America: A group of 11 Southern states that seceded from the United States in 1860-61, leading to the Civil War.

Union: The Northern states during the American Civil War which opposed the Confederate States of America.