17K views · 176 reactions | Lincoln faces an extreme amount of backlash when drafting the Emancipation Proclamation to free slaves in the confederate states. | HISTORY | Facebook

President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on this day in 1862. | Antiques Roadshow l PBS

In January 1863, Lincoln signed the historic Emancipation Proclamation into law, a critical step toward abolishing slavery in the United States. Despite common belief, the act freed slaves in select states, not all. In this edition of Moments in Civil Rights History, a collaboration of Comcast and the Equal Justice Initiative, a hallmark executive action lays the groundwork for the 13th Amendment — but not before two more bloody years of war test the nation's resolve. | Voices of the Civil Right