In 1863, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, an executive order that freed the slaves in the Confederate states.
Explanation:
The Emancipation Proclamation was, notably, not passed by Congress, but by President Lincoln using his war powers.
Many immigrants in the North viewed freed slaves as competition for scarce jobs and as the reason the Civil War was being fought.
President Lincoln and other Republicans were concerned that the Emancipation Proclamation would be seen as a temporary war measure because it was solely based on Lincoln’s war powers.
The Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution officially outlawed slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime.
The Emancipation Proclamation was an executive order issued by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, during the American Civil War using his war powers. It proclaimed the freedom of slaves in the 10 states then in rebellion, applying to 3.1 million of the 4 million slaves in the United States at that time. The Proclamation immediately freed 50,000 slaves, with nearly all of the rest of the 3.1 million freed as Union armies advanced. The Proclamation did not compensate the owners, outlaw slavery, or grant ex-slaves, called ” freedmen,” citizenship.
