The+Emancipation+Proclamation+5

The Emancipation Proclamation was issued on January 1, 1863 by President Abraham Lincoln. The document stated that "all persons held as slaves are, and henceforward shall be free." There were some exceptions though, such as the fact that it did not apply unless the states had seceded from the Union. Also, it did not except areas of the Confederacy in which there was Northern control. The freedom that the Proclamation had promised also depended upon whether the Union military was victorious. The Proclamation gave black men the right to serve in the war, causing almost 200,000 black soldiers to fight for freedom. The original document of the Emancipation Proclamation is still preserved today in the National Archives in Washingtion, DC.

Sources: [|**www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured_documents/emancipation_proclamation/**]