January 1, 2013
EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION ISSUED 150 YEARS AGO TODAY!
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) One hundred & fifty years ago today, President Abraham Lincoln signed the final Emancipation Proclamation at the White House.
The Emancipation proclaimed...
"That on the 1st day of January, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred & sixty three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall be in rebellion against the United States shall be then, thenceforward, & forever free."
Emancipation Proclamation
Engraving by W. Roberts (1864)
According to the recent article by Fred Brown in the Knoxville News-Sentinel , titled 'East Tennessee in the Civil War: January 1, 1863', the Emancipation Proclamation actually freed only about 40,000 out of 4 million slaves.
The reason, as stated in the article by Charles Hubbard, executive director of the Abraham Lincoln Institute for the Study of Leadership & Public Policy, was that the Emancipation did not free any slaves where the federal union was not in military control.
Thus, the EP excluded the Union slave states of Maryland, Delaware, Missouri & Kentucky and also Tennessee because it was under US military control.
Hubbard says that the EP was a 'military necessity' for President Lincoln as a tool to deprive the South of the support of its slaves to keep a viable army.
According to Fred Brown's article, Lincoln wrote several drafts of the EP at the Soldier's Home & was advised to wait for a Union victory before issuing it.
On September 22, 1862, after the Battle of Antietam with Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia in retreat, President Lincoln issued his Preliminary Emancipation.
Charles Hubbard says:
"With a stroke of a pen, Lincoln wiped out 60% of Southern capital (slave property)."
It is surprising to learn that Lincoln signed 48 copies of Emancipation documents. Many were sent to state governors while others were sold to raise money to care for wounded soldiers.
ORIGINAL EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION TO BE DISPLAYED IN NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE
Nashville, Tennessee (JFK+50) A traveling National Archives exhibit including the original Emancipation Proclamation will be on display next month at the Tennessee State Museum here in Nashville.
The EP, included in an exhibit titled "Discovering the Civil War," will be exhibited February 12-18, 2013.
There is no fee for those who wish to stand in line to see the exhibit. A $1 fee is charged for a timed reservation. About 300 people will be able to view the exhibit every hour.
The hours for viewing will be 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Feb. 12-15, & 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Feb. 16-18.
SOURCE:
Knoxville News Sentinel, article by Fred Brown, Dec. 30, 2012.
President Obama Displays
The Emancipation Proclamation
The Oval Office
January 18, 2010
Photo by Pete Souza
