The Emancipation Proclamation was a presidential proclamation and executive order issued by United States President Abraham Lincoln on January 1 1863, during the Civil War.The Proclamation changed the legal status of more than 3.5 million enslaved African Americans in the secessionist Confederate states from enslaved to free. As soon as a slave escaped the control of his or her owner, either by running away across Union lines or through the advance of federal troops, the person was permanently free. In addition, the Proclamation allowed for the recruitment of former slaves into the paid service of the United States armed forces.
