Emancipation Proclamation
Lincoln declares slaves in the rebel states free
On 1 January 1863, in the middle of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln declared free the slaves in the territories in rebellion against the Union. The proclamation turned the war into a fight to end slavery and opened the Union army to Black soldiers. The 13th Amendment abolished slavery throughout the United States in 1865.
Wikipedia (English) · 19th century
Meanwhile around the world (±25 years)
Europe
- 1845–1852 Great Famine in Ireland — 18 years earlier
- 1859 Darwin's On the Origin of Species — 4 years earlier
- 1861 Unification of Italy — 2 years earlier
- 1870–1871 Franco-Prussian War — 7 years later
- 1886 Benz's first automobile — 23 years later
Eastern Europe & Russia
- 1853–1856 Crimean War — 10 years earlier
- 1861 Emancipation of the serfs in Russia — 2 years earlier
- 1867 Alaska Purchase — 4 years later
- 1869 Tolstoy's War and Peace — 6 years later
- 1877 Premiere of Swan Lake — 14 years later
Middle East
- 1839 The Edict of Gülhane opens the Tanzimat — 24 years earlier
- 1839–1842 First Anglo-Afghan War — 24 years earlier
- 1876–1878 The first Ottoman constitution — 13 years later
Africa
- 1847 Liberia declares independence — 16 years earlier
- 1869 Opening of the Suez Canal — 6 years later
- 1879 Battle of Isandlwana — 16 years later
- 1885 The Mahdists take Khartoum — 22 years later
- 1885–1908 The Congo Free State — 22 years later
Asia
- 1853–1854 Commodore Perry's Black Ships — 10 years earlier
- 1868 Meiji Restoration — 5 years later
- 1876–1878 Great Famine in India — 13 years later
- 1883 Eruption of Krakatoa — 20 years later
- 1885 Founding of the Indian National Congress — 22 years later
Oceania
- 1851 The Australian gold rushes — 12 years earlier
Alive at the time
- Charles Darwin (aged 54)
- Abraham Lincoln (aged 54)
- Karl Marx (aged 45)
- Queen Victoria (aged 44)
- Fyodor Dostoevsky (aged 42)
- Leo Tolstoy (aged 35)
- Dmitri Mendeleev (aged 29)
- Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (aged 23)
- Thomas Edison (aged 16)
- Vincent van Gogh (aged 10)