The Emancipation Proclamation was one of the most influential presidential speeches in US history. Issued on January 1, 1863, by President Abraham Lincoln and granted freedom to enslaved peoples in ten states. It was issued during the American Civil War and helped allow the Union to win the war. While it did not make slavery illegal and there was criticism surrounding the document, its existence brought on the abolition of slavery in 1865. The Emancipation Proclamation is one of the most important documents in the history of the United States.