Lincoln Big News Coming!

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Monday, December 29, 1862

OTD, President Lincoln reads the Emancipation Proclamation to his Cabinet for criticism.
Also, the creation of a new state, West Virginia, is taken under advisement.
Gens. John Newton and Cochrane of Gen. Burnside's staff interview Lincoln on Burnside's plans and ask his removal

 

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Tuesday, December 30, 1862
At his Cabinet meeting, President Lincoln provides them with a copy of the Emancipation Proclamation and asks for suggestions. By the end of the day, they come up with the Preliminary Draft of the Final Emancipation Proclamation.

 

[Pete Longstreet]

When I think of Lincoln speaking to his cabinet about the emancipation proclamation, I think of this video:

Very strong and moving scene in the movie.

 

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Wednesday December 31, 1862
A special Cabinet meeting is convened at 10am to make a final revision of the Emancipation Proclamation.

 

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Thursday January 1, 1863

A New Year's Day Reception is scheduled for 10am for foreign dignitaries. Followed by the general public from noon to 2pm.
At noon Secretary of State William Seward and the Assistant Secretary of State Frederick W. Seward take a copy of the Emancipation Proclamation to the White House where the rest of the Cabinet is meeting. Shortly thereafter, President Lincoln signs it.

 

[A. Roy]

If I may be permitted, maybe it would be of interest to see an excerpt from "Life and Times of Frederick Douglass: Written by Himself." (1892 version, chapter 12, page 429). On 1 Jan. 1863, Douglass was with many others assembled in Boston:

"Eight, nine, ten o'clock came and went, and still no word. A visible shadow seemed falling on the expecting throng, which the confident utterances of the speakers sought in vain to dispel. At last, when patience was well-nigh exhausted, and suspense was becoming agony, a man (I think it was Judge Russell) with hasty step advanced through the crowd, and with a face fairly illumined with the news he bore, exclaimed in tones that thrilled all hearts, 'It is coming!' 'It is on the wires!!' The effect of this announcement was startling beyond description, and the scene was wild and grand. Joy and gladness exhausted all forms of expression, from shouts of praise to sobs and tears. My old friend Rue, a colored preacher, a man of wonderful vocal power, expressed the heartfelt emotion of the hour, when he led all voices in the anthem, 'Sound the loud timbrel o'er Egypt's dark sea, Jehovah hath triumphed, his people are free.'"

ARB

 

[A. Roy]

If I may be pardoned for another quotation from Douglass (Ibid p 430). He did recognize the Proclamation's limitations:

"It only abolished slavery where it did not exist, and left it intact where it did exist. It was a measure apparently inspired by the low motive of military necessity, and by so far as it was so, it would become inoperative and useless when military necessity should cease. There was much said in this line, and much that was narrow and erroneous. For my own part, I took the proclamation, first and last, for a little more than it purported, and saw in its spirit a life and power far beyond its letter. Its meaning to me was the entire abolition of slavery, wherever the evil could be reached by the Federal arm, and I saw that its moral power would extend much further. It was, in my estimation, an immense gain to have the war for the Union committed to the extinction of slavery, even from a military necessity. It is not a bad thing to have individuals or nations do right, though they do so from selfish motives. I approved the one-spur-wisdom of 'Paddy,' who thought if he could get one side of his horse to go, he could trust the speed of the other side."

ARB