On
23rd September, 1862 Abraham Lincoln
issued his Emancipation
Proclamation.
The statement said that all slaves would be declared free in those
states still in rebellion against the United States on 1st January,
1863. The measure only applied to those states which, after that date,
came under the military control of the Union Army. It did not apply
to those slave states such as Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri
and parts of Virginia and Louisiana, that were already occupied by
Northern troops.
It was not until December 1865, when the Thirteenth
Amendment of the Constitution
had been passed by the House of Representatives and had been ratified
by the required number of states, that slavery was finally abolished
everywhere in the United States.
(1)
John
Greenleaf Whittier,
letter to William Lloyd Garrison (24th
November, 1863)
For,
while we may well thank God and congratulate one another on the prospect
of the speedy emancipation
of the slaves of the United States, we must not for a moment forget
that from this hour new and mighty responsibilities devolve upon us
to aid, direct, and educate these millions left free, indeed, but
bewildered, ignorant, naked, and foodless in the wild chaos of civil
war.
We have to undo
the accumulated wrongs of two centuries, to remake the manhood which
slavery has well-nigh unmade, to see to it that the long-oppressed
colored man has a fair field for development and improvement, and
to tread under our feet the last vestige of that hateful prejudice
which has been the strongest external support of Southern slavery.
We must lift ourselves at once to the true Christian attitude where
all distinctions of black and white are overlooked in the heartfelt
recognition of the brotherhood of man.
I love, perhaps too well, the praise
and good-will of my fellow-men; but I set a higher value on my name
as appended to the Antislavery Declaration of 1833 than on the title-page
of any book. Looking over a life marked by many errors and shortcomings,
I rejoice that I have been able to maintain the pledge of that signature,
and that, in the long intervening years, "My voice, though not
the loudest has been heard. Wherever Freedom raised her cry of pain."
Let me, through thee, extend a warm
greeting to the friends, whether of our own or the new generation,
who may assemble on the occasion of commemoration. There is work yet
to be done which will task the best efforts of us all. For thyself,
I need not say that the love and esteem of early boyhood have lost
nothing by the test of time.
(2)
William Lloyd Garrison, speech at Charleston, South Carolina (14th
April, 1865)
In 1829 I first hoisted in the city of Baltimore the flag of immediate,
unconditional, uncompensated emancipation; and they threw me into
their prison for preaching such gospel truth. My reward is, that in
1865 Maryland has adopted Garrisonian Abolitionism, and accepted a
constitution indorsing every principle and idea that I have advocated
in behalf of the oppressed slave.
The first time I saw that noble man, Abraham
Lincoln, President of the United States, at Washington, - and of one
thing I feel sure, either he has become a Garrisonian Abolitionist,
or I a Lincoln Emancipationist, for I know that we blend together,
like kindred drops, into one, and his brave heart beats freedom everywhere,
- I then said to him: "Mr. President, it is thirty-four years
since I visited Baltimore; and when I went their recently to see if
I could find the old Prison, and, get into my old cell again, I found
that all was gone." The President answered promptly and wittily,
as he is wont to make his responses: "Well, Mr. Garrison, the
difference between 1830 and 1864 appears to be this, that in 1830
you could not get out, and in 1864 you could not get in." This
symbolizes the revolution which has been brought about in Maryland.
For if I had spoken till I was as hoarse as I am tonight against slaveholders
in Baltimore, there would have been no indictment brought against
me, and no prison opened to receive me.
But a broader, sublimer basis than that, the United
States has at last rendered its verdict. The people, on the eighth
of November last, recorded their purpose that slavery in our country
should be forever abolished; and the Congress of the United States
at its last session adopted, and nearly the requisite states have
already voted in favor of, an amendment to the Constitution of the
country, making it forever unlawful for any many to hold property
in man. I thank God in view of these great changes.
Abolitionism, what is it? Liberty. What is liberty?
Abolitionism. What are they both? Politically, one is the Declaration
of Independence; religiously, the other is the Golden Rule of our
Savior. I am here in Charleston, South Carolina. She is smitten to
the dust. She has been brought down from her pride of place. The chalice
was put to her lips, and she has drunk it to the dregs. I have never
been her enemy, nor the enemy of the South, and in the desire to save
her from this great retribution demanded in the name of the living
God that every fetter should be broken, and the oppressed set free.
I have not come here with reference to any flag
but that of freedom. If your Union does not symbolize universal emancipation,
it brings no Union for me. If your Constitution does not guarantee
freedom for all, it is not a Constitution I can ascribe to. If your
flag is stained by the blood of a brother held in bondage, I repudiate
it in the name of God. I came here to witness the unfurling of a flag
under which every human being is to be recognized as entitled to his
freedom. Therefore, with a clear conscience, without any compromise
of principles, I accepted the invitation of the Government of the
United States to be present and witness the ceremonies that have taken
place today.
And now let me give the sentiment which has been, and ever will be,
the governing passion of my soul: "Liberty for each, for all,
and forever!"
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