The Emancipation Proclamation was issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, during the American Civil War. It declared that enslaved people in Confederate-held territory were free, shifting the war’s focus toward ending slavery. Although it did not immediately free all enslaved people, it weakened the Confederacy and allowed formerly enslaved men to join the Union Army. The proclamation marked a major step toward the abolition of slavery in the United States.