Slavery, lasted from 1620 to 1863. In 1863 the Emancipation proclamation went into affect freeing all African American slaves. Lincoln issued the proclamation as the nation was at about its third year of the bloody civil war. The emancipation proclamation stated "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free." Besides the difficult wording, the Emancipation Proclamation was limited in many ways. It only affected states that were not in the union , which meant slavery still occurred in the loyal border states. Even though the Emancipation Proclamation did not end slavery in the whole United States, it influenced many people and transformed the character of the war. This is one of the very most important reasons that Abraham Lincoln is the greatest president the U.S. has ever had. “Four score and seven years ago
Cited: http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3a8334a50e83.htm, Why was Lincoln Shot?, unknown, 05-16-01 http://home.att.net/~rjnorton/Lincoln75.html, Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, Unknown, 05-15-01 http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?eu=114491&tocid=0, Abraham Lincoln, Britannica, 05-20-01 Mason, Lorna C, William Jay Jacobs, and Robert P Ludlum. The History of the United States. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1992. 521-522. Gabor S. Boritt, Lincoln, Abraham. , World Book Encyclopedia, 01-01-2000. John Keegan, The Assassiantion of Abraham Lincoln, Great battles of the Civil War, 1992 World Book Encyclopedia, World Book Incorporated, Lincoln, Abraham 1992