Answer:
The American Civil War was fought between 1861 and 1865 and was a result of longstanding tensions between the Northern and Southern states over a variety of issues, including states' rights and the abolition of slavery. The emancipation proclamation, which was issued by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863, declared that all slaves in the Confederate states "shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free." However, the proclamation did not actually free any slaves; it simply declared their freedom and called on the Union Army to recognize them as free. It was not until the passage of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, which occurred after the end of the Civil War, that slavery was formally abolished in the United States.