What did emanicipitation proclomation do?

The Emancipation Proclamation, issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, declared the freedom of all enslaved people in Confederate-held territory. It aimed to weaken the Confederacy's war effort by depriving it of labor while also allowing for the enlistment of freed slaves into the Union Army. Although it did not immediately free all enslaved individuals, it marked a significant turning point in the Civil War and set the stage for the eventual abolition of slavery in the United States.