When in Albany today, I had a chance to view Lincoln's original draft of the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. And ashamed that I am to admit it, I didn't know there were two Emancipation Proclamations.

Lincoln's Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation was written in July of 1862. In this document, Lincoln warned the Confederate states that if they remained in rebellion against the United States for a period of more than 100 days, he would free all slaves within their borders on January 1, 1863. (New York had already freed slaves within its borders in 1827.)

Lincoln held off on issuing the document until after a major Union victory, which he was given at the Antietam battle on September 17th of that year.

As promised in the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln freed all slaves in the Confederate states with the Final Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863.

The draft of the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation is encased in a nitrogen environment and held by the state legislature, who let it be shown only a few days every year to keep it preserved. The final copies of both Emancipation Proclamations are in the National Archives in D.C.