Facts about the Emancipation Proclamation

1. 13

   Drafted in 1862, Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation contained no enforcement mechanism and relied entirely on Union military victories to liberate enslaved people in Confederate territory.

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2. 12

   Lincoln's handwritten Emancipation Proclamation document contained edits and corrections, including a crossed-out phrase about colonization that he ultimately removed from the final version.

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3. 11

   At least 50,000 formerly enslaved people crossed Union lines during the Civil War seeking freedom under the protections of the Emancipation Proclamation.

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4. 10

   Most enslaved people in Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri remained in bondage after the Emancipation Proclamation took effect because these loyal Union states were constitutionally exempt from its reach.

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5. 09

   Copies of the Emancipation Proclamation signed by Lincoln sold at an 1864 charity fair in New York for $3,000, with proceeds benefiting soldiers' relief efforts.

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6. 08

   Enslaved people in Union-occupied New Orleans and other areas under federal military control remained in bondage because the Emancipation Proclamation exempted regions where the Union already held power.

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7. 07

   British recognition of the Confederacy remained uncertain partly because the Emancipation Proclamation convinced European antislavery advocates that the Union fight was morally just.

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8. 06

   The Emancipation Proclamation applied only to enslaved people in states actively rebelling against the Union, explicitly excluding those in loyal border states like Kentucky and Missouri.

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9. 05

   General William Tecumseh Sherman's March to the Sea in late 1864 explicitly protected formerly enslaved people fleeing to Union lines as part of the Emancipation Proclamation's implementation.

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10. 04

    Five states remained partially exempt from the Emancipation Proclamation because Union forces occupied portions of Louisiana, Tennessee, Arkansas, Virginia, and Maryland during the Civil War.

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11. 03

    Lincoln's preliminary Emancipation Proclamation issued September 22, 1862 gave Confederate states 100 days to rejoin the Union before enslaved people would be freed.

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12. 02

    Over 180,000 African American soldiers served in the Union Army after the Emancipation Proclamation enabled their military enlistment during the Civil War.

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13. 01

    January 1, 1863 marked when Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation declared enslaved people in Confederate states legally free.

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