[1863-01-11]Stopping the Slavery Agitation.
[1863-01-13]Kentucky and Emancipation.
[1863-01-15]EMANCIPATION MEETINGS IN ENGLAND.; THE WORKINGMEN OF MANCHESTER.
[1863-01-20]HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
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.
Original of the Emancipation Proclamation
The 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment was the first Civil War Union regiment to be composed of enlisted men drawn from the free blacks of the North. It as made possible by the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1st, 1863, and was initially the subject of bitter controversy. However, the extraordinary performance and bravery of the regiment markedly altered people’s attitudes and perceptions, leading to formations of further regiments, with a wartime total of 186,097 (7,122 officers, 178,975 enlisted) African American enrollments contributing a key component of the Union victory.
The 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment was the first Civil War Union regiment to be composed of enlisted men drawn from the free blacks of the North. It was made possible by the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1st, 1863, and was initially the subject of bitter controversy. However, the extraordinary performance and bravery of the regiment markedly altered people’s attitudes and perceptions, leading to formations of further regiments, with a wartime total of 186,097 African American enrollments (7,122 officers, 178,975 enlisted : 9.5% of the union armies), contributing a key component of the Union victory.
This blog presents the year 1863 as seen through the letters and books written by the soldiers and officers of the Massachusetts 54th, together with associated and related writings. Each day’s blog posting presents the letters, excerpts, proclamations, etc. which were written or issued on that day, along with links to articles from the New York Times for that day.
The first blog posting — for January 1, 1863 — will appear on Janauary 1, 2010, and thereafter, the posts for each day of 1863 for which there are letters or material will occur on the corresponding day of 2010. Links for maps and related books will appear in the sidebar, together with a listing of the names of individuals who enrolled in the regiment on that day. These entries link to the individual’s full entry in the regiment’s roster, which is provided.
