One of the most important moments in the history of America is the day of January 1, 1863, the day when President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, first issued on September 22, 1862, became effective. This Proclamation freed all slaves in the Southern/ Confederate States that were fighting against the North during the American Civil War (April 1861 - April 1865). Both President Lincoln and his Proclamation are controversial issues today. That's why I chose to post here, first, the text of the Proclamation as such, as taken from the National Archives Foundation website. Then, a few fragments regarding the Emancipation Celebration, since 1863 until today, on New Year's Eve, as taken from the National Museum of African American History and Culture website. Next, a few paragraphs from its celebration in 1903, 40 years since the Proclamation, through an homage paid to President Lincoln and the description of the African-Americans unhappy situation at the beginning of the 20th century, ended with praises and hopes regarding President Theodore Roosevelt Politics and his public condemnation of lynching, as taken from The Boston Globe online archive. Finally, I chose African-American Kellie Carter Jackson's speech - Associate Professor in the African Studies Department, Wesley College - from The Emancipator, YouTube, June 17, 2022, where she explains us why Lincoln should not be the hero in this story, for having freed the slaves, but the slaves themselves, with their black leaders, their political activists and abolitionists should receive the credit instead.
January 1, 1863
By the President of the United States of America:
A Proclamation.
Whereas, on the twenty-second day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, a proclamation was issued by the President of the United States, containing, among other things, the following, to wit:
"That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom.
"That the Executive will, on the first day of January aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the States and parts of States, if any, in which the people thereof, respectively, shall then be in rebellion against the United States; and the fact that any State, or the people thereof, shall on that day be, in good faith, represented in the Congress of the United States by members chosen thereto at elections wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such State shall have participated, shall, in the absence of strong countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such State, and the people thereof, are not then in rebellion against the United States."
Now, therefore I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested as Commander-in-Chief, of the Army and Navy of the United States in time of actual armed rebellion against the authority and government of the United States, and as a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing said rebellion, do, on this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and in accordance with my purpose so to do publicly proclaimed for the full period of one hundred days, from the day first above mentioned, order and designate as the States and parts of States wherein the people thereof respectively, are this day in rebellion against the United States, the following, to wit:
Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, (except the Parishes of St. Bernard, Plaquemines, Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. James Ascension, Assumption, Terrebonne, Lafourche, St. Mary, St. Martin, and Orleans, including the City of New Orleans) Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, (except the forty-eight counties designated as West Virginia, and also the counties of Berkley, Accomac, Northampton, Elizabeth City, York, Princess Ann, and Norfolk, including the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth[)], and which excepted parts, are for the present, left precisely as if this proclamation were not issued.
And by virtue of the power, and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free; and that the Executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons.
And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free to abstain from all violence, unless in necessary self-defence; and I recommend to them that, in all cases when allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonable wages.
And I further declare and make known, that such persons of suitable condition, will be received into the armed service of the United States to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service.
And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution, upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind, and the gracious favor of Almighty God.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the City of Washington, this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty three, and of the Independence of the United States of America the eighty-seventh.
By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN
WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State
On the night of December 31, 1862, enslaved and free African Americans gathered, many in secret, to ring in the new year and await news that the Emancipation Proclamation had taken effect. Just a few months earlier, on September 22, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln issued the executive order that declared enslaved people in the rebelling Confederate States legally free. However, the decree would not take effect until the clock struck midnight at the start of the new year. The occasion, known as Watch Night or “Freedom's Eve,” marks when African Americans across the country watched and waited for the news of freedom. Today, Watch Night is an annual New Year’s Eve tradition that includes the memory of slavery and freedom, reflections on faith, and celebration of community and strength.
[…]
Despite these laws, enslaved people sought to exercise their own religious customs, including Christianity, Islam, and indigenous faith practices reflective of the homes from which they were stolen. They convened at praise houses on plantations or secretly gathered in the woods, where they practiced their faith under the protective cover of the trees and brush in what became known as “hush harbors.” As Charlotte Martin, a formerly enslaved woman from Florida, recounted, “[The plantation owner] would not permit them to hold religious meetings or any other kinds of meetings, but they frequently met in secret to conduct religious services.” Charlotte’s own brother was beaten to death for participating in such secret worship meetings. But enslaved people persisted in their faith practices as forms of resistance and freedom.
[…]
The occasion is customarily marked by celebrations of fellowship and a worship service, followed by a fortuitous meal on New Year’s Day. Celebratory foods include a diverse collection of culinary traditions that can be traced back to Southern superstition, influenced by beliefs across West Africa. Chief among these foodways is the practice of eating collard greens, representing the promise of prosperity, and eating black-eyed peas with rice, also known as Hoppin’ John. Traditionally, Hoppin’ John consists of black-eyed peas, rice, red peppers, and salt pork, and it is believed to bring good fortune to those who eat it. Before finding its way into American traditions, the black-eyed pea (also known as cowpea) traveled from Central Africa to the West Indies and finally to the Carolinas in the early 1700s. Many West African cultures regard the pea as lucky, and memories of its luck remained with enslaved black people in the American South and still endure today. Though Hoppin’ John is a common dish prepared for Watch Night, the foods prepared in observance of the tradition are incredibly diverse and reflective of regional, temporal, and cultural differences within the African American community. Some other common dishes include: candied yams, cornbread, potato salad, and macaroni and cheese
Initially meant to welcome emancipation, today the Watch Night service encourages reflection on the history of slavery and freedom, as well as reflection on the past year—both its trials and triumphs—while also anticipating what the new year will have in store. It is a continuation of generations of faith that freedom and renewal lie ahead.
02 Jan 1903, Fri · Page
Boston, Massachusetts · Friday, January 02, 1903
Forty Years
Lincoln’s Immortal Act Very Eloquently Eulogized
Forty years ago yesterday Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, and in commemoration of that act exercises were held in Faneuil Hall yesterday morning and afternoon.
At the morning session the chairman of the meeting, Rev W. H. Scott of Woburn, in his opening remarks, said they had met in historic Faneuil Hall to commemorate one of the greatest events in the history of this country.
Following him came music and the reading of the Emancipation Proclamation by Rev Johnson W. Hill.
The first address was then made by Rev James E. Young of Groton, who preached the funeral sermon of John Brown at his grave at Mt. Elba, N. Y. Mr. Young said in his address:
“I am here today to say that I am not in sympathy with the methods taken in the south to deprive the negro of his liberty. The war of the rebellion settled the fact that the negro should be free and should also become a citizen, entitled to the full rights and privileges of every other American."
Ex-Gov George S. Boutwell
The address of Ex-Gov George S. Boutwell was an historical exposition of the events which made the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments possible, and the changes which follow their adoption.
He also reiterated his anti-imperialist views.
Ex-Gov George S. Boutwell said:
“The negro population of the United States is not less than 10,000,000 strong – one eighth of the total population of the country. This population is so distributed in several of the republican states that there is reasonable ground for the belief that the politics of several states would be changed should the negro voters desert the Republican Party and cooperate with the Democratic Party. If that Party should declare itself without reserve in favor of giving the Philippine entire freedom.
Your fortunes are involved in this struggle. Unless the freedom of the Philippine islands shall be secured, there can be neither power nor justice for you in America.
Your fate in America is involved in the fate of the Philippine islands, and it may be that the fate of the Philippine islands is in your hands. The Republican Party cannot maintain the principle of freedom in America and at the same time set up a government of tyranny in Asia.”
[…]
Mrs Julia Ward Howe: "Abraham Lincoln did a great thing when he signed that Proclamation. We women were among those who worked for you. I thought that my great-grandchildren might live to see emancipation, but I did not expect to live to see it. Yet my grandchildren today cannot understand that there was ever a human auction block upon which men and women were sold.”
[…]
Representative William H. Lewis of Cambridge:
"The living and the dead, generations past and generations to come, call upon us to resist to the bitter end by every lawful means, in the court, conventions and congress, these encroachments upon our own liberty, no less than those of our common country. To do otherwise would be to be false to the memory of the great emancipator who said: I believe with Seward in the equality of the negro, give him the suffrage of American citizens.
We need not despair. The gift of the gods cannot be recalled. Revolutions never go backward. The eclipse of the great war amendments is only temporary, the sun of liberty will shine once more.
With the advance of civilization and culture men, the world over will come to realize the oneness of our common humanity. Saxon, Indian and Hottentot, all are born alike, live alike and die alike. Birth, life, death, immortality, are the common heritage of all."
The Resolutions
Through Napoleon Bonaparte Marshall the committee on resolutions presented a “declaration to the country”, which was unanimously adopted. It is in part as follows.
"This day, marking the close of the 40th year since the promulgation of Lincoln’s immortal Emancipation Proclamation, the Magna Charta of liberty in America, we, citizens of Massachusetts, realizing that eternal vigilance is the price of all liberty, we renew our gratitude for the past and call our country’s attention to some things we deem essential to our well being.
The Jim Crow car being the most insulting of the many means by which the South attempts to put the badge of inferiority upon the colored race, the colored people everywhere are to be commended for their strenuous and unremitting opposition to this legalized attempt to degrade and belittle them. It is well known to everyone that the declared and express purpose of all those southern states that have made new constitutions was to get rid permanently of the negro vote. Therefore, the declaration that ‘every revised constitution throughout the southern states has put a premium upon intelligence, ownership of property, thrift and character’ is false on its face and to be condemned as calculated to condone the disenfranchisement of the negro race.
While southern trade schools are admittedly doing serviceable work for the negro youth, at present too much stress cannot be laid upon adequate primary and grammar schools, with terms of eight months, instead of three, for the negro masses in the South, as a foundation for higher mental training.
An educated citizenship being a primal necessity for the welfare of a democratic republic like ours, we urge the revival of the Blair educational bill, or some such measure of education, to the end that adequate school facilities may be provided for all in every state.
Labor unions have no right to monopolize employment while they exclude any class of Americans from their membership, on the ground of race or color, and we appeal to the federal coal commission to refuse to recognize the miners’ union while it excludes the negro from membership.
Congress should pass legislation to enable the general government to protect all United States citizens from mob violence wherever state authorities fail to do so.
We commend President Roosevelt for his manly personal stand against lynching and “lilywhiteism”, and in favor of negro appointments. We hope from him positive recommendations to congress of measures to ensure the negro protection in his civil and political rights, and urge him to advise with the disinterested and untrammeled men of our race as to his policy concerning us."
*Lincoln Didn't Free The Enslaved. They Freed Themselves. - Kellie Carter Jackson
Abraham Lincoln did not free the enslaved. The enslaved freed themselves. For decades, historians have argued for the agency of black Americans in securing their own liberation during the Civil War. But time and time again, Lincoln is touted by his most known monikers, the great emancipator, or savior of the union. His entire presidential legacy is often summarized in an easy one-liner: Lincoln freed the slaves.
In America, slavery died a painful death on the ground. During the Civil War enslaved people did not wait for white liberators, they watched many of their slaveholders leave to fight, and so they left for freedom. Enslaved people by the hundreds of thousands ran away to Union lines and northern cities to escape their bondage. Their massive migration forced the nation to place the end of slavery on the national political agenda.
Lincoln is perhaps one of the few presidents who require constant revisiting because black leaders, abolitionists and political activists who persuaded Lincoln to transform the nation have not been properly centered. We have looked for abolition in all the wrong places. Freedom did not come from the White House or Congress. Black people were not given freedom, they forced freedom to become a national mandate. When the Civil War finally ended, Lincoln admitted: "I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly that events have controlled me."
In the end, Lincoln’s dilemma was not reuniting the Confederacy to America. It was getting white Americans, himself included, to relinquish their allegiance to white supremacy. This dilemma remains for every president elected to office: what to do with white people? The myth of whiteness as supreme is such a fully formed identity in America, that neither the North, nor the South has been able to renounce their commitment to racial domination.
During Reconstruction, something incredible happened: black Americans went from being enslaved to elected officials. Black Americans built schools, public health departments, roads and infrastructure, charitable institutions for the elderly, mentally ill, they cultivated land, created banks, and managed to invest their money in their own communities. The dilemma has never been black people’s capacity to survive and succeed. The dilemma is white people’s ability to accept black humanity and forfeit the myth of their supremacy.
You may see Kellie Carter Jackson's speech here
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