When was the Emancipation Proclamation created?

This was issued on 1st January 1863 by President Abraham Lincoln. We use the term 'issued' rather than created as its announcement is what we refer to in examinations.

The emancipation proclamation was issued by Lincoln on January 1st 1863, a preliminary version of the proclamation was issued on September 22nd 1862, it was drafted during the summer of 1862.

It was issued on January 1st, 1863, by president Lincoln as the nation approached its third year of the civil war. The proclamation declared that all slaves within the rebellious states were to be set free.