President Abraham Lincoln signs the executive order emancipating all slaves in states and parts of states controlled by the Confederacy.

Exploring the most important 55 months in American history
President Abraham Lincoln signs the executive order emancipating all slaves in states and parts of states controlled by the Confederacy.
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.
Following the Federal victory at the Battle of Antietam, Abraham Lincoln decides to follow through with a promise he had made to himself.
Abraham Lincoln approves a contract to deport slaves to Central America as pressure increases for him to order emancipation.
Horace Greeley publishes an editorial in his influential New York Tribune that prompts a rare public response from President Abraham Lincoln.