Emancipation Proclamation

American  

[ih-man-suh-pey-shuhn prok-luh-mey-shuhn] / ɪˈmæn səˌpeɪ ʃən ˈprɒk ləˌmeɪ ʃən /

noun

U.S. History.

1. the proclamation issued by President Lincoln on September 22, 1862, that freed the people held as slaves in those territories still in rebellion against the Union from January 1, 1863, forward.

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Emancipation Proclamation Cultural  

1. A proclamation made by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863 that all slaves under the Confederacy were from then on “forever free.”

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Usage

What was the Emancipation Proclamation? The Emancipation Proclamation was an executive order issued by US President Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War that ordered the freeing of enslaved peoples in Confederate states not yet captured by Union forces. How is Emancipation Proclamation pronounced?[ ih-man-suh-pey-shuhn prok-luh-mey-shuhn ]

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In itself, the Emancipation Proclamation did not free any slaves, because it applied only to rebellious areas that the federal government did not then control. It did not affect the four slave states that stayed in the Union: Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri. Yet when people say that Lincoln “freed the slaves,” they are referring to the Emancipation Proclamation.

Example Sentences

Abbe, a committed Republican, probably had endorsed the Emancipation Proclamation.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 28, 2025

The proclamation recognized slavery as an “inhumane practice” and the Emancipation Proclamation as having “ended its evil stain on American democracy.”

From Slate • Feb. 12, 2025

Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, learned they had been freed — two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued during the Civil War.

From Seattle Times • May 23, 2024

At the beginning of the fighting, fearmongering subsided.It picked up some momentum after the Emancipation Proclamation was announced by Abraham Lincoln on New Year’s Day, 1863.

From Salon • Mar. 23, 2024

He was anti-Union, antiblack, and the owner of up to eleven slaves before Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation had freed them.

From "Chasing Lincoln's Killer" by James L. Swanson