This Day in History:, Lincoln Issues the <br />Emancipation Proclamation.<br />September 22, 1862.<br />Issued after the Union victory at Antietam, this <br />preliminary proclamation granted freedom <br />to more than 3 million slaves in the South.<br />The proclamation exempted the border states, <br />which, though faithful to the Union,<br />continued to harbor slaveholders.<br />In addition, it expanded the political focus of <br />the Civil War to include not only the preservation <br />of the Union, but also the abolition of slavery.<br />This isolated the South from <br />anti-slavery nations such as <br />France and Great Britain, who had <br />once been conciliatory toward the Rebel states.<br />The presidential order also <br />led to the creation of Black <br />military forces in the army and navy.<br />Three years later in 1865 — just <br />weeks before Lincoln's assassination — the 13th <br />Amendment abolishing slavery in the U.S. was passed
