The United States signed the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. Drafted by President Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War, this executive order declared the freedom of all enslaved people in Confederate-held territories. Although it did not immediately free all enslaved individuals, the proclamation fundamentally shifted the war's focus to include the abolition of slavery as a central aim. It galvanized the Union's cause and allowed for the enlistment of African American soldiers, significantly impacting the fight for slavery's eventual abolition and altering the social and political landscape of the nation.