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On January 1, 1863 the The Emancipation Proclamation was issued by Abraham Lincoln in the midst of Civil War who freed all the slaves in the Confederacy and invited black men to enlist in the Union Army. The Proclamation laid the foundation for the ongoing transformation of the United States from a slaveholding nation into an interracial democracy and also signaled at black citizenship by asking former slaves to join the Union Army. This was also a precursor to the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments which remade the constitution and abolishing slavery.

https://time.com/4826876/25-moments-america-july-4th/

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In the roughly two and a half centuries since America first celebrated its independence, there have been plenty of opportunities for moments big and small to sway the course of the nation's history.

That's why, to mark the Fourth of July holiday, TIME History asked 25 experts to pick one such moment. It could have happened on a day that every American child learns about in school - the day Abraham Lincoln spoke at Gettysburg, for example - or it could have happened on a day that might otherwise blend into the rush of history. Big or small, however, it had to have made its mark.

In past years, we've looked at such moments in the 20th century - you can see those lists here and here - but this year we're going back in time even more, to the 19th century. The only rules were that the selections had to be specific moments (so that means "the Civil War" doesn't work) and they had to have happened between Jan. 1, 1800, and Dec. 31, 1899. The results, contributed by email and phone, highlight 25 days out of the hundreds that passed during that century and, in doing so, trace the nation's evolution from infancy to modernity.

Contact us at letters@time.com.

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TIME asked 25 historians to each pick one moment that changed the course of American history. The results may surprise you.

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On February 2, 1848 The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed which brought to a close the war with Mexico. This was important as The U.S. expanded by a third, becoming a continental nation for the first time, Mexicans in the land the Americas took over became citizens and became a gateway for other people from foreign countries to become citizens Further shaping American culture in the later years.

https://time.com/4826876/25-moments-america-july-4th/

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On May 6, 1882, President Chester A. Arthur signed into law the Chinese Exclusion Act. The exclusion law resulted from two decades of racist agitation on the Pacific Coast by whites, who claimed the Chinese were a degraded, slave-like race. For those Chinese already living in the U.S., it meant decades of family separation, anti-miscegenation and other segregation laws, and racist violence. This would eventually lead for social reforms and civil rights movements to stop the discrimination and allow those from foreign lands to enter the U.S.

https://time.com/4826876/25-moments-america-july-4th/

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The Gettysburg Address was a speech given by President Abraham Lincoln on November 19, 1863, at the official dedication of the Soldiers National Cemetery. The main message of the Gettysburg Address is that ideals are worth dying for and that it is up to the living to carry on the work of those who died to protect ideals. This was an important part of history as gave meaning to the sacrifice of the men who died in the Battle of Gettysburg. It set a tone or foundation for America as a country that they have to stand as a country where all men are created equal and should be treated as equals.

https://study.com/academy/lesson/gettysburg-address-summary-analysis.html#:~:text=The%20Gettysburg%20Address%20gave%20meaning,should%20be%20treated%20as%20equals.

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On March 2, 1807, the House of Representatives and Senate passed legislation “to Prohibit the importation of Slaves” into the United States. This law would close the traffic in human imports from any foreign kingdoms making the international trade in any person, with intent to keep as a slave illegal. This was important as it marked a point in history where people of different races united and was a model for human rights movements later in history.

https://ldhi.library.cofc.edu/exhibits/show/voyage-of-the-echo-the-trials/historic-context--abolishing-t#:~:text=These%20planters%20believed%20that%20if,flourish%20in%20the%20nineteenth%20century.