The dream of freedom soon became a reality for African Americans thanks to Abraham Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation. African Americans have been living in the United States for many years, living lives of servitude and hardships. Even though change took a long time, slaves would eventually gain some freedom and better lives. They would stop being looked at as property and they would begin fighting for their rights and equality. The Emancipation Proclamation led to a better life for enslaved African Americans in the United States. Abraham Lincoln abolished slavery when he signed the Emancipation Proclamation and ordered that all slaves should be set free. “I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated …show more content…
The Emancipation Proclamation further states, "That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.” The Emancipation Proclamation wasn't just a document; it was a symbol of freedom and change to come. Because of the Emancipation Proclamation, many African Americans were able to have better lives. They were glad when freedom was declared. They said they were hard on em. Whoop em.” African American slaves were abused and treated inhumanely. They were whipped, branded, and forced to live under the rule of their masters who only kept them alive so they could profit from them. Owners would sometimes kill their slaves for the simplest reasons or to set an example for the other slaves they owned. Slaves were constantly forced into labor for their owners, who would profit off of their work. Being freed from this mistreatment and abuse relieves them. When slaves were freed, some were given the tools to leave. “Master Stone never forced any of us to