Digital Resources

The Library of Congress website contains a variety of digital materials related to the Emancipation Proclamation, including manuscripts, government documents, pamphlets, printed ephemera, sheet music, and newspaper articles.

Abraham Lincoln Papers

Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress
The complete Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress consists of approximately 20,000 documents, including an essay on Abraham Lincoln and Emancipation.

Emancipation Proclamation

Major documents in this collection bearing on the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, are as follows:

Search the Abraham Lincoln Papers using the phrase "Emancipation Proclamation" to find additional items related to the Emancipation Proclamation.

The Alfred Whital Stern Collection of Lincolniana

The Alfred Whital Stern Collection of Lincolniana
This collection contains seventy items related to the Emancipation Proclamation, including government documents, broadsides, and sheet music.

Selected highlight from this collection:

Congressional Publications

A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1875
This collection contains congressional publications from 1774 to 1875, including debates, bills, laws, and journals. In addition, the collection includes the Journals of the Confederate Congress.

Selected highlight from this collection:

Emancipation Proclamation
A printed copy of the final version of the Emancipation Proclamation, January 1, 1863, as it appears in the United States Statutes at Large.
Jefferson Davis's response to the Emancipation Proclamation, January 12, 1863
The Journals of the Confederate Congress contain a message written by Jefferson Davis in response to the Emancipation Proclamation.
The Retaliatory Act, Confederate Congress, May 1, 1863
The Journals of the Confederate Congress contain the Retaliatory Act passed by the Confederate Congress in response to the Emancipation Proclamation.

Exhibitions

American Treasures of the Library of Congress - Emancipation Proclamation
This online exhibition contains Lincoln’s first and final draft of the Emancipation Proclamation, as well as the final version issued on January 1, 1863. Also included is a letter that Lincoln wrote to Albert G. Hodges in which he states “if slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong.”
With Malice Toward None: The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Exhibition
This online exhibition commemorates the two-hundredth anniversary of the birth of the nation’s revered sixteenth president and includes a section on the Emancipation Proclamation.

Historic Newspapers

Chronicling America
Historic American newspapers selected and contributed by state partners in the National Digital Newspaper Program.

A selection of articles includes:

In addition, the Newspaper and Current Periodical Reading Room has created a series of topics guides to the newspapers included in Chronicling America, including a guide on the Emancipation Proclamation.

Pamphlets

African American Perspectives: Materials Selected from the Rare Book Collection
"African American Perspectives" gives a panoramic and eclectic review of African American history and culture and is primarily comprised of two collections in the Rare Book and Special Collections Division: the African American Pamphlet Collection and the Daniel A.P. Murray Collection with a date range of 1822 through 1909.

Selected highlight from this collection:

Prints & Photographs

Collections with Photos, Prints, Drawings
Pictorial materials are found in many units of the Library of Congress. The Prints & Photographs Division, alone, holds more than 15 million items, including photographs, prints, drawings and architectural and engineering designs; more than 1 million of the items are available in digital form.

Search the Library's collections of photos, prints, and drawings to find images related to the Emancipation Proclamation.

Selected images include:

Today in History

April 16, 1862
President Lincoln signed an act abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia on April 16, 1862.
September 22, 1862
The Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation was issued on September 22, 1862.

Emancipation Proclamation: Primary Documents in American History

History, Humanities & Social Sciences: Ask a Librarian

Digital Resources

Abraham Lincoln Papers

The Alfred Whital Stern Collection of Lincolniana

Congressional Publications

Exhibitions

Historic Newspapers

Pamphlets

Prints & Photographs

Today in History