Free Republic

Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty has proposed to eliminate as a public holiday Emancipation Day, which commemorates Abraham Lincoln’s decision in 1862 to free slaves in the District.

Here is video of actor Sam Waterston reading President Abraham Lincoln's "Emancipation Proclamation" which was signed on January 1, 1863, officially freeing the slaves, though the Civil War would rage on for over two more years. Waterston's reading is part of the celebration of Lincoln's birthday today, which is also the 200th anniversary of Lincoln's birth in Kentucky on February 12, 1809. . . . . . (Watch Video)

“Preaching Is God’s Great Emancipation Proclamation” (Mark 1:29-39; 1 Corinthians 9:16-27)In the Holy Gospel for today, Jesus says, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also; for that is why I came out.” And then it says, “And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues.” Likewise, in today’s Epistle, St. Paul says, “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!” Both of these readings emphasize the importance of preaching. It was a top priority for Jesus. It was a top priority for Paul. Why was it so important for them?...

  Senator Obama is one of key leaders in a campaign to make Juneteeth Day a National Holiday in the United States. Juneteeth Day occurs on every June 19th, the anniversary of General Granger announcing the emancipation of slaves in the South West. The Holiday would be celebrated on the third Friday in June. Here's what the NYT wrote about it on 2004: "Most gatherings are decidedly upbeat, but the sobering reason for the holiday has also been part of Juneteenth's growth. Dr. Ronald Myers, the leader of a movement to make Juneteenth a national holiday, says June 19 should...

Our nation’s top historians reveal that the Democratic Party gave us the Ku Klux Klan, Black Codes, Jim Crow Laws and other repressive legislation which resulted in the multitude of murders, lynchings, mutilations, and intimidations (of thousands of black and white Republicans). On the issue of slavery: historians say the Democrats gave their lives to expand it, the Republicans gave their lives to ban it.

Today, the nation's capital celebrates “Emancipation Day” –- commemorating the Republican Party's abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, on April 16, 1862. That’s right, the Republican Party freed the slaves in DC, despite fierce opposition from the Democrats. Of course, none of the Democrats running the DC Government dares mention that fact. During the Civil War, one of the nation’s leading abolitionists was U.S. Senator Henry Wilson (R-MA), who would later serve as Vice President during President Grant’s second term. In December 1861, Senator Wilson introduced a bill to abolish slavery in the District. The measure met with...

Letters Suggest Lincoln Wanted to Buy Slaves for $400 Apiece in 'Gradual Emancipation' Wednesday, March 05, 2008 AP ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Barely a year into the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln suggested buying slaves for $400 apiece under a "gradual emancipation" plan that would bring peace at less cost than several months of hostilities. The proposal was outlined in one of 72 letters penned by Lincoln that ended up in the University of Rochester's archives. The correspondence was digitally scanned and posted online along with easier-to-read transcriptions. Accompanying them are 215 letters sent to Lincoln by dozens of fellow political...

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,...

Throw this article at your democrat/liberal/pacifist friends and left-wing history revisionists in their efforts to blame the GOP for Democrat's catastrophes. I base my own Libertarian social mindsets and fiscal Conservative ones on track record and reality not "spin" and not on political party affiliations. Nor on specific religious or ethnic dogma and culture. As a multilingual, multicultural, widely traveled (over a million international air miles) - definitely not a "herd animal" human - I have developed a perceptive eye for reality on a global, big picture scale. And a pretty accurate view of the components that create the big...

Emancipation Proclamation, in U.S. history, the executive order abolishing slavery in the Confederate States of America. Desire for Such a Proclamation In the early part of the Civil War, President Lincoln refrained from issuing an edict freeing the slaves despite the insistent urgings of abolitionists. Believing that the war was being fought solely to preserve the Union, he sought to avoid alienating the slaveholding border states that had remained in the Union. “If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do...

Anyone else see this auction? The Emancipation Proclamation SIGNED by Abraham Lincoln apparently there were about 100 of these made, is this real? going for 1.5 million right now (of course i cant afford it!)

When Brandon Balch's 13-year-old daughter got married in Georgia, he wasn't there to give her away. The Boynton Beach man didn't even know about his daughter's union to a 14-year-old boy until after they got married, a license from a Georgia judge in hand. Georgia law allows minors to marry without parental consent if the bride-to-be is pregnant. A similar statue in Florida gives a judge discretion to issue a marriage license to minors without parental consent if the couple is expecting a child. ''I was never informed of the marriage. I didn't consent, much less know about it,'' said...

During a discussion with minority leaders and journalists on Monday, Howard Dean declared that Republicans are “a pretty monolithic party. They all believe the same. They all look the same. It’s pretty much a white Christian party.” He further stated that “the Republicans are not very friendly to different kinds of people” and Democrats are “more welcoming to different folks, because that’s the type of people we are.” Dean continued to defend his remarks as recently as Thursday. Dean’s comments clearly suggest that the GOP is, if not hostile to a demographic broader than white Christians, at least cool toward...

For the most part, I agree with Peter Lawler’s critique of the recent New York Times column by David Brooks on Lincoln and the evangelical abolitionists. But Lawler says one thing that is dead wrong and needs to be corrected. Lawler writes that “Lincoln opposed abolitionism before the Civil War because he believed it was unconstitutional; the Constitution only opposed the expansion of slavery into new territories. Abolitionism was a revolutionary principle, and it could finally only be justified by Lincoln after civil war had begun.” While Lawler is correct in observing that Lincoln was no abolitionist, his argument plays...

Emancipation Proclamation Goes on View New York Lawyer February 18, 2005 By Carl Hartman The Associated Press WASHINGTON -- President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation declaring the end to slavery goes on public view Friday as part of Black History Month celebrations. The document will be on display at the National Archives, where visitors regularly see the original Constitution and Declaration of Independence. The poor quality of the paper and ink on the final draft of the Emancipation Proclamation make it vulnerable to light, so it has been only occasionally brought out of storage. It was last seen on Jan. 19,...

Q: After having read many accounts of the Civil War, I still don’t understand why South Carolina fired on Ft. Sumter, galvanizing the North into war.  What do you think might have happened had the South continued to let these coastal forts be manned by the Union for a longer time? Hanson: I think conflict was inevitable, because the South had little appreciation of Northern industrial power nor of the competence of a number of formerly nondescript Union officers. The best officers of the Mexican War had joined the Confederacy and there was an erroneous general impression that all superior...

Just finished watching a replay of Sam Waterston reading Abraham Lincoln's speech at the Cooper Union. The link is to the BookTV page about this event and includes a Real Audio link to watch the presentation. What causes me to post this is just how timely this speech still is. There are many times in this speech where I wanted to stand up and shout YES! What President Lincoln said is still relevant and the arguments he puts forward about our political opponents and their tactics ring so true that it is stunning. Here is the text of the speech:

One Last Card to Play A review of Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation: The End of Slavery in America, by Allen C. Guelzo. Since 1865, the new york state library has been the proud owner of the original Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. This is the document (you can read it in Lincoln's hand at their website) in which Abraham Lincoln, as "President of the United States of America, and Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy thereof," proclaimed on September 22, 1862, "That on the first day of January in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held...

Dear Ted Turner, At this advanced stage of your long and complicated career you have finally crossed the line – making a contribution to your country and its culture so unequivocally positive and powerful that every American, regardless of political perspective, owes you a debt of gratitude. No matter how one feels about your creation of CNN, your donation of a billion dollars to the UN, your marriage to Jane Fonda, your operation of the Atlanta Braves, your divorce from Jane Fonda, your dismissal of Christianity as "a religion for losers," your bison ranching, or your yachting, or your fanatical...

There is a common misconception today, abetted by Democrat-leaning historians who wish to distance Abraham Lincoln from our Republican Party heritage, that with the Emancipation Proclamation Lincoln just waved a presidential wand and freed the slaves. In fact, he was acting on authority granted to him by the Republican Congress in the second Confiscation Act, a copy of which Lincoln appended to the proclamation, stating that slaves held by rebels were to be "forever free". While the Radical Republicans (those radically opposed to slavery) were more eager than he to seize the moment and uproot the entire slave system, there...