Original Scan from the Library of Congress
The Emancipation Proclamation is an executive order issued by
United States President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, during the
American Civil War under his war powers. It proclaimed the freedom of
3.1 million of the nation’s 4 million slaves, and immediately freed
50,000 of them, with the rest freed as Union armies advanced.
Image reproduction rights can be found in the link near the bottom of this description.