In 1863, Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, a landmark document that declared the freedom of all enslaved people in states or regions that were in rebellion against the Union during the Civil War. While it did not immediately free all enslaved individuals, it was a crucial step towards abolishing slavery in the United States. The proclamation shifted the focus of the war to include the fight for freedom and made the emancipation of enslaved people an explicit war aim for the Union. It paved the way for the eventual passage of the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery altogether.