What proclamation did Abraham Lincoln issue to free slaves in areas still at war with the Union?

The Emancipation Proclamation, issued by Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, declared that all slaves in the Confederate states that were in rebellion against the Union were to be set free. This landmark decision was a strategic war measure aimed at weakening the Confederacy, as enslaved individuals were integral to the Southern economy and labor force. By freeing slaves in those states, Lincoln hoped to undermine the Confederate war effort and encourage enslaved individuals to escape or rise up against their owners.

The significance of the Emancipation Proclamation extends beyond its immediate impact; it also shifted the war's focus from merely preserving the Union to a moral struggle against slavery, ultimately leading to greater support for abolition in the North. While it did not immediately free all slaves in the United States, it laid the groundwork for the eventual abolition of slavery through the Thirteenth Amendment, which permanently outlawed slavery in 1865.