Emancipation Proclamation

This passage describes the Emancipation Proclamation, the very important document that put an end to slavery.

Lexile Level: 430L

Categories: History

The Civil War took place in the United States. It was when people in the United States fought with each other. They fought for many reasons. One major reason was slaves. Slaves were people who were owned by other people to do work. Some slaves worked on farms, and some worked in houses. Abraham Lincoln was the president at the time of the war. One day he made a big announcement. This announcement was the Emancipation Proclamation. It said slaves in the Confederacy would be free. The Confederacy was a group of states. These states did not like President Lincoln. They were fighting with him. The slaves were supposed to be free on the first day of the year 1863. Some people did not free their slaves then. Two years later the war ended. Then a new law was made. It was the Thirteenth Amendment. It said there would never be slaves in the United States again.