The importance of the Emancipation Proclamation during the Civil War was multifaceted. Issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, it declared all enslaved people in Confederate-held territories to be free. While it did not immediately free all enslaved individuals, the Proclamation altered the character of the war, making the abolition of slavery a central goal for the Union. It discouraged foreign intervention on behalf of the Confederacy and allowed for the recruitment of African American soldiers into the Union Army, bolstering its numbers. Ultimately, the Proclamation set the stage for the eventual passage of the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery in the United States.