The document that proclaimed the end of slavery in the United States is known as the Emancipation Proclamation. Issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, the proclamation declared that all enslaved individuals in the Confederate states were to be set free. While it did not immediately free all enslaved people, it was a pivotal moment in the Civil War, signaling a shift in the war's purpose toward the abolition of slavery. The proclamation also allowed for the enlistment of African American soldiers into the Union Army, further contributing to the fight for freedom and equality.