Final answer:
The Emancipation Proclamation was a document issued by President Abraham Lincoln during the American Civil War that declared all enslaved people in the Confederate states to be free.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Emancipation Proclamation was a document issued by President Abraham Lincoln during the American Civil War that declared all enslaved people in the Confederate states to be free. It was signed on January 1, 1863, and stated that enslaved people within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free. However, it did not immediately free those enslaved in the Confederate states because the Union army's presence was not strong enough to enforce it. The Proclamation also did not free those enslaved in the border states as they were not in rebellion. Despite these limitations, the Emancipation Proclamation marked a significant shift in the objective of the war towards ending slavery.