On This Day, 1863

Abraham Lincoln did not have the power to unilaterally free all the slaves, but he got things done anyway.  

On this day, in 1863, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation as Commander in Chief in a war zone, "freeing” the slaves in those states then in open rebellion, i.e., over which the Union had no power. The Emancipation Proclamation did not free all slaves, nor did it make slavery illegal; that came later when the 13th amendment was ratified by 75 percent of the states in December of 1865.

Between January 1863 and December 1865, it was unclear whether emancipation in the South was going to be temporary War Measure or not.  

Lincoln based a large part of his 1864 presidential campaign on a constitutional amendment to abolish slavery  throughout the U.S. It was never a “done deal,” but Lincoln's campaign was bolstered by Maryland's new constitution of 1864 which abolishing slavery, and by the executive proclamation of Missouri Governor, Thomas C. Fletcher, who abolished slavery in that state on January 11, 1865.

In January of 1865, Congress sent to state legislatures for ratification what became the Thirteenth Amendment, banning slavery in all U.S. states and territories. The amendment was ratified by enough states by December 6, 1865, and proclaimed 12 days later.

A reminder: Southern racists killed Abraham Lincoln for freeing the slaves, same as they killed Martin Luther King for pressing for voting rights and economic and social justice. Today racism and corporate authoritarianism (fascism) are the defining pillars of the Republican party, and the Civil War is being fought over access to the ballot.