What proclamation did President Lincoln issue that set a moral purpose for the Civil War?

The Emancipation Proclamation is the proclamation that President Lincoln issued, which established a moral purpose for the Civil War. Issued on January 1, 1863, this executive order declared that all enslaved people in Confederate-held territory were to be set free. The significance of this proclamation lies not only in its immediate effects on the status of enslaved individuals but also in how it redefined the Civil War’s goals. It framed the conflict not merely as a battle for the Union but as a struggle for human freedom and equality, thereby giving the war a moral imperative that appealed to abolitionists and altered the international perception of the United States.

The other options do not share this focus on moral purpose. The Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850 were legislative measures aimed at addressing sectional tensions over slavery without fundamentally redefining the institution, while the Gettysburg Address, though a powerful statement about national dedication and equality, followed the Emancipation Proclamation and reiterated many of its themes. However, it was the Emancipation Proclamation that initially set forth a clear moral intention in the fight against slavery within the context of the war.