American President Abraham Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing enslaved people in the Confederate states. In 1865, the U.S. Congress passed and the states ratified the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, abolishing slavery throughout the United States.
Abraham Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation
Alexander Gardner (American, 1821–1882), Abraham Lincoln, 1863 [taken Nov. 8; printed later, c1900]
Photographic print
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division · PRES FILE – Lincoln, Abraham Portraits – Reserve Collection – No. 59