Emancipation Proclamation (not directly related but often referenced)

The Emancipation Proclamation was an executive order issued by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, during the Civil War. It declared that all enslaved people in Confederate states were to be set free. While it did not immediately free all enslaved individuals, it changed the war's focus to include the fight against slavery and allowed for the enlistment of Black soldiers in the Union Army. This pivotal document shifted the moral compass of the war and set the stage for the eventual abolition of slavery in the United States with the 13th Amendment in 1865.