The U.S. House of Representatives passes a constitutional amendment permanently abolishing slavery in America. This significant legislation marked the first constitutional restriction on individual rights, solidifying emancipation.
Exploring the most important 55 months in American history
The U.S. House of Representatives passes a constitutional amendment permanently abolishing slavery in America. This significant legislation marked the first constitutional restriction on individual rights, solidifying emancipation.
Reactions vary as Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation is released to the public.
President Abraham Lincoln signs the executive order emancipating all slaves in states and parts of states controlled by the Confederacy.
Abraham Lincoln urges George B. McClellan to move his Federal army back into Virginia, but McClellan is more concerned about Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation.
News of the Emancipation Proclamation spreads throughout the country and does not quite get the reception that Abraham Lincoln had hoped for.
Abraham Lincoln issues his decree stating “that all persons held as slaves” within rebellious areas “are, and henceforward shall be free” if those areas do not submit to Federal authority by January 1.