On this day in 1862,

Lincoln Issues Emancipation Proclamation

Frees Slaves in Confederate States Only

Recasts Civil War as fight against slavery

Intended in part to discourage France from supporting Confederacy

On this day in 1862, President Abraham Lincoln used his executive war powers as justification for issuance of a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation effective only in the states of the Confederacy, and nowhere else in the United States.  The proclamation set a date for the freedom of more than 3 million black slaves in the Confederacy and effectively recast the Civil War as a fight against slavery.

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