Posted on 02/10/2007 9:32:04 PM PST by NormsRevenge
PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - A museum on Thursday unveiled a rare copy of the Emancipation Proclamation, a document signed in 1863 by President Abraham Lincoln declaring the end of slavery in the United States.
The document is one of about 24 known copies to survive out of 48 that were originally printed. It was acquired on behalf of The National Constitution Center museum from an unnamed private collector.
"This is one of the rarest, most valuable, most significant documents in history," president of the non-profit museum Joseph Torsella told a news conference. "With the possible exception of the Declaration of Independence, no document has had a more profound impact on the American vision of liberty."
Torsella declined to say how much was paid for the document, saying only that it was a "very significant sum." It was acquired by board member Steven Galbraith and will be on loan to the museum, where it will be on display until 2017.
Lincoln signed the proclamation on January 1, 1863, two years into the American Civil War, and in so doing authorized the freeing of slaves in rebel states.
The document contains the entire text of the proclamation and was originally intended for sale at a Philadelphia fair in 1864 to raise money for sick and wounded soldiers. Each copy, with Lincoln's original signature, sold for $10 at the time.
The document will be on display for the final 10 days of February to mark Black History Month and then be withdrawn before going back on show this summer.
A close-up of a rare copy of the Emancipation Proclamation, signed by late U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, is displayed at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, February 8, 2007. A museum on Thursday unveiled a rare copy of the Emancipation Proclamation, a document signed in 1863 by Lincoln declaring the end of slavery in the United States. REUTERS/Tim Shaffer (UNITED STATES)
A close-up of late U.S. President Abraham Lincoln's signature on a rare copy of the Emancipation Proclamation being displayed at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, February 8, 2007. A museum on Thursday unveiled a rare copy of the Emancipation Proclamation, a document signed in 1863 by Lincoln declaring the end of slavery in the United States. REUTERS/Tim Shaffer (UNITED STATES)
Well....I'll....be.....listening to our Saviour Obama today, I'd a thought ole Abe was a Democrat!
Emancipation Proclamation
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, towit:
“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 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, towit:
Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, (except the Parishes of St. Bernard, Plaquemines, Jefferson, St. Johns, 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 fortyeight 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 & 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
They just sneer without comment when I mention that being a Democrat when JFK was president meant being against high taxes and being pro-defense, too.
Then why did we need the 13th Amendment?
Kennedy was more to the right than any Republican president since Reagan.
Go get em Rev. Perryman!
related:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1383873/posts
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http://209.157.64.200/focus/f-news/1663524/posts
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http://209.157.64.201/focus/f-chat/1219526/posts
Book Review of Unfounded Loyalty
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1780812/posts
Supreme Court to hear United States v. The Democratic Party & DNC
Taking back history!
To make it the law of the land, since slavery was part of the original Constitution.
$10 in 1863 - woulda bought a helluva car!
Brilliant!
Car? In 1863? Someone elsewhere copied an ad from a paper of that era & a prime buck (slave) was going for $6000.
I'm wondering what one of my ancestors could have bought in 1863 that would qualify to be sold at "an undisclosed amount". Cha ching!
I suppose you believe that if a wife walks away from her husband
and he then pursues her and beats her and forces her to return to "the marriage"
that everything is then just as it was before.
You would say she didn't really leave the marriage in the first place,
because her attempt to leave was ultimately unsuccessful?
As president, Lincoln couldn't deprive citizens of their lawfully-obtained property, which freeing the slaves would have done, without compensation. Even if Congress passed a law, the Constitution would have required some form of compensation. As commander in chief, Lincoln could free the slaves in areas that were occupied and under martial law.
When the amendment was passed, were the slave owners in non-secession states paid for their loss of "property"?
No. That's why it had to be done by constitutional amendment -- something that's part of the Constitution cannot be unconstitutional.
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