Abraham Lincoln
William H. Seward

This is a photograph of President Lincoln’s handwritten draft of the final Emancipation Proclamation. Lincoln liberated millions of African Americans from slavery with these famous words: “I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free.” The original draft of the Proclamation, issued on January 1, 1863, was lost in the Chicago fire of 1871.

January 1, 1863

African Americans

Abraham Lincoln
William H. Seward

Government Document

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division

The Robert Todd Lincoln Family Papers, Manuscript Division.

No known copyright restrictions. Images available at http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trt028.html