President Lincoln issues Emancipation Proclamation

             After the inauguration of President Lincoln, he avoided the issue of ending slavery. He wanted to focus on restoring the Union. Which is what he insisted the war was about.  He agreed that slavery had to be abolished, but he wanted to gain more support from the public.  In July of 1862, Lincoln informed his cabinet that he would issue an emancipation proclamation.  The border states, Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Arkansas, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia would be exempt because they remained loyal to the Union. He did not make the announcement public until after the Union won the Battle of Antietam in September 1862. On September 22, 1862 he announced that slaves who were still in areas of rebellion will be freed in 100 days.  As promised, on January 1, 1863, President Lincoln issued the final Emancipation Proclamation, which declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebel states "are, and henceforward shall be free." The proclamation also demanded the recruitment and establishment of black military units in the Union forces. An estimated 180,000 African Americans went on to serve in the army, and another 18,000 served in the navy.

               Lincoln pushed for an antislavery amendment to the U.S. Constitution to ensure its permanence because congress did not pass the proclamation to make it law.  Slavery was eliminated throughout America with the passage of the 13th Amendment in 1865.

 http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/lincoln-issues-emancipation-proclamation

Valerie