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was issued by Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, during the American Civil War, declaring all "slaves within any State, or designated part of a State... then... in rebellion,... shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free." The states affected were enumerate ....

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.... slaves, thus annulling in effect the fugitive slave laws. On April 10, on Lincoln's initiative, congress declared the federal government would compenste slave owners who freed their slaves. All slaves in the District of Columbia were freed in this way on April 16, 1862 . On June 19, 1862, Congress enacted a measure prohibiting slavery in United States territories, thus defying the supreme court decision in the Dred Scott case, which ruled that Congress was powerless to regulate slavery in the territories. Finaly, after the union victory in the battle of antietam, Lincoln issued a preliminary proclamation on September 22, declaring his inte ....