Short answers, pulled from the story.
Abraham Lincoln issued the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation on the 22nd of September 1862. This action occurred five days after the Union victory at the Battle of Antietam.
Approximately 20,000 slaves were freed immediately by the Emancipation Proclamation. These individuals lived within Union-occupied zones including parts of eastern North Carolina, the Sea Islands of Georgia and South Carolina, and areas of the Mississippi Valley.
Abraham Lincoln waited for a major Union military victory before issuing the proclamation to avoid appearing as if the Union was retreating. He received this opportunity following the Battle of Antietam which turned back a Confederate invasion of Maryland.
The Emancipation Proclamation gained support from anti-slavery countries such as Britain and Italy. Giuseppe Garibaldi wrote to Lincoln calling him the great emancipator while workers in Manchester England honored his decisive steps toward freedom.
The Thirteenth Amendment was ratified by state legislatures on the 6th of December 1865. This amendment banned slavery in all U.S. states and territories except as punishment for a crime.