President Abraham Lincoln

January

President Abraham Lincoln

12 Feb 1809 - 15 Apr 1865

On 1st January 1863, the Proclamation changed the legal status under federal law of more than 3.5 million enslaved African Americans to free. As soon as a slave escaped the control of the Confederate government, either by running away across Union lines or through the advance of federal troops, the person was permanently free. Ultimately, the Union victory brought the proclamation into effect in all of the former Confederacy.