President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, announcing, that all persons held as slaves within the rebellious areas are, and henceforward shall be free..
Definition of punitive damages. : damages awarded in excess of compensation to the plaintiff to punish a defendant for a serious wrong.
Punitive damages are particularly prevalent in the USA where they are often left to the discretion of a group of citizens, a jury, who may impose them when they determine that a defendant's conduct has been uncivilized or to deter other from acting in such an underhanded way, to improve, generally, law and order, or simply to reward the plaintiff for his financial risks in litigating and enforcing the law.