First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation by President
Lincoln. (Painted by Francis Carpenter)

On September 22, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln issues a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, which sets a date of January 1, 1863 for the
freedom of more than 3 million black slaves in the United States and
recasts the Civil War as a fight against slavery.

When the Civil War broke out in 1861, shortly after Lincoln’s inauguration
as America’s 16th president, he maintained that the war was about
restoring the Union and not about slavery. He avoided issuing an anti-
slavery proclamation immediately, despite the urgings of abolitionists
and radical Republicans, as well as his personal belief that slavery was
morally repugnant. Instead, Lincoln chose to move cautiously until he
could gain wide support from the public for such a measure.

President Lincoln signing the Emancipation
Proclamation.

The five page original document, held in the National Archives
Building. Until 1936 it had been bound with other proclamations
in a large volume held by the Department of State.