PRESIDENT LINCOLN SIGNS FINAL EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed the final Emancipation Proclamation* at the White House.
Charles Hubbard of the Abraham Lincoln Institute for the Study of Leadership and Public Policy reminds us that the Emancipation did not free any slaves where the Federal Union was NOT in military control.
Hubbard does say, however, that...
"With the stroke of a pen, Lincoln wiped out sixty percent of southern capital (slave property)."
JFK+50 NOTE
On January 1, 1863, the Confederate states still in rebellion, & thus not in the military control of the Union, included Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Texas & Virginia.
The Emancipation Proclamation "left slavery untouched" in the border states (slave states which had not left the Union) of Maryland, Delaware, Kentucky, & Missouri.
*Abraham Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation following the Battle of Antietam on September 22, 1862. The President signed the final Emancipation Proclamation (Executive Order) on January 1, 1863. It allowed African American men to enlist & fight in the Union Army.
SOURCES
"Emancipation Proclamation Issued 150 Years Ago Today," JFK+50, January 1, 2013, www.jfk50.blogspot.com/
"The Emancipation," Equal Justice Initiative, www.eji.org/
"The Emancipation Proclamation: Striking a Mighty Blow to Slavery," National Museum of African American History and Culture, www.nmaahc.si.edu/
