An important piece of American history and justice

Abraham Lincoln considered the Emancipation Proclamation the crowning achievement of his presidency and it is easy to see why. The executive order, which freed enslaved African Americans in the Confederate states, was a groundbreaking decision. While the Constitution limited the president's power to end slavery, Lincoln took advantage of wartime and issued the proclamation under his authority as Commander-in-Chief to claim it as a necessary war measure. This decorative Smithsonian edition includes Lincoln's executive order, as well as writings that lent to its foundation, and features an illuminating introduction from the Smithsonian Institution, providing an important perspective from a leading voice and authority of American history.

The Emancipation Proclamation was issued on January 1, 1863, but Texas was the last Confederate state to have the proclamation announced two years later on June 19. It became a joyous holiday called Juneteenth that is celebrated to this day by the African American community, showing the enduring power of the transformative document. This handsome book captures a revolutionary moment that changed the course of the Civil War and served as the precursor to the Thirteenth Amendment, which officially abolished slavery. The Emancipation Proclamation is an imperative document that symbolizes a turning point in the struggle for African American equality.

PAUL GARDULLO is a historian and curator at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture and director of its Center for the Study of Global Slavery. He also serves as co-director of the Slave Wrecks Project, an international network that investigates the history and afterlives of the global slave trade through the lens of maritime archaeology.