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.
-- Abraham Lincoln, President of the USA, January 1, 1863.
This was an exceutive action signed by the commander-in-chief in wartime. The Emancipation Proclamation was the death knell of slavery in North America, though it took until Juneteenth 1865 to be enforced in Texas, and 1866 in some parts of "Indian Territory" (Oklahoma).
150 years ago today.
Pictured above is the cover of Envisioning Emancipation: Black Americans and the End of Slavery by Deborah Willis and Barbara Krauthamer (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2012), recommended for all libraries.
Today's Rune: Fertility. Happy New Year, folks!
1 comment:
How terrible that such a proclamation ever had to be made, that it wasn't simply an acceptable thing already that all humans deserve freedom.
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