Which document declared that slaves in Confederate-held areas were free?

• A. Emancipation Proclamation
• B. Gettysburg Address
• C. Treaty of Paris
• D. Three-Fifths Compromise

Answer: (A)

The Emancipation Proclamation is the document that declared enslaved people in Confederate-held areas free. President Lincoln issued it on January 1, 1863, and it stated that those enslaved in states still in rebellion against the Union were free. This turned the Civil War into a fight not just to save the Union but also to end slavery, and it opened the door for Black soldiers to join the Union Army. It didn’t free enslaved people in border states or areas already under Union control at that time, and true nationwide abolition came later with the Thirteenth Amendment. The other options focus on different topics: the Gettysburg Address is about national purpose and democracy, the Treaty of Paris ends the Revolutionary War, and the Three-Fifths Compromise was about counting enslaved people for representation, not freeing them.