The most accurate statement about the results of the American Civil War is that it brought an end to slavery in the United States. The Emancipation Proclamation, issued by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863, had already declared all slaves in Confederate territory to be free, but the war's conclusion and the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution confirmed freedom for all enslaved individuals across the nation. This outcome significantly transformed the social fabric of the United States and led to the granting of citizenship and civil rights to former slaves during the Reconstruction period. In terms of other political, economic, and societal changes arising from the conflict, opinions may vary based on different interpretations and historiographical perspectives.