Stock Photo - Jan. 1, 1970 - The American Negro: His story President Abraham Lincoln (holding papers) presents the Emancipation Proclamation to his Cabinet. It declared that on January 1, 1863, all salves in any rebellious state should be 'thenceforward and forever free.' Morgue information: Engraving by A.R.Ritchie from a painting by Francis, B. Carpenter. From left to right are: Secretary of War, Edwin N. Stanton: Secretary of Treasury, Salmon P. chase; The President; the secretary of the Navy, Gideon Welles; Secretary of State, William H. Seward (seated bedore table); Secretary of the Interior, Caleb B.Smith Postmaster General, Montgomery Blair, Arrotney General , Edward Bates. (Credit Image: © Keystone Press Agency/Keystone USA via ZUMAPRESS.com)