The Emancipation Proclamation, Smithsonian Edition
Lincoln, Abraham / Gardullo, Paul
An important piece of American history and justiceAbraham 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 a...