As the glowing sun set over the bloody fields of Antietam, the Civil War became a different war. Five days after the battle, armed with pen and paper, Abraham Lincoln changed the war when he issued the Emancipation Proclamation.
"...all persons held as slaves within any State...the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free." Emancipation Proclamation, January 1, 1863
Last updated: July 11, 2019