The Emancipation Proclamation was an executive order issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, during the American Civil War. It declared that all enslaved people in the Confederate states were to be set free. This proclamation aimed to weaken the Confederacy and encourage enslaved individuals to escape or join the Union Army. While the Emancipation Proclamation did not immediately free all enslaved people, it was a significant step toward the abolition of slavery in the United States. It paved the way for the eventual passage of the 13th Amendment, which formally abolished slavery in 1865.