The
Emancipation Proclamation was a
presidential proclamation and
executive order issued by President
Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863. In a single stroke, it changed the federal legal status of more than 3 million
enslaved persons in the designated areas of the South from "slave" to "free". It had the practical effect that as soon as a slave escaped the control of the Confederate government, by running away or through advances of federal troops, the slave became legally free. Eventually it reached and liberated all of the designated slaves. It was issued as a war measure during the
American Civil War, directed to all of the areas in rebellion and all segments of the
executive branch (including the Army and Navy) of the United States.