ON THIS DAY IN UNITED STATES HISTORY
January 1, 1863
The Emancipation Proclamation Takes Affect
On this day in 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation took affect for all Confederate states that did not return to
the Union.
At the time, the Emancipation Proclamation was widely criticized since it only freed the slaves in the rebellious
states, the same states in which the Union had no real control. What it did however was commit the North to freeing
the slaves in rebellious states without alienating the border states who had remained loyal to the Union.
Slavery was not officially abolished in the remaining states until the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment on
December 18, 1865.
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