Emancipation Proclamation Law and Legal Definition
Emancipation proclamation refers to the executive order of the U.S. President Abraham Lincoln that proclaimed slaves in all the U.S. confederate states free. The proclamation was issued on January 1, 1863, during the American Civil War under president’s war powers as commander in chief of the army and navy. The Emancipation Proclamation and the emancipation of slaves in the U.S. territories cast the U.S. in the role of the emancipator of slaves against the pro-slavery confederate states of America.
