September 22, 1862
Jonathan Horn ·
September 22, 2012 at 8:28pm
Given that we discussed the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Antietam here last weekend, it's only fitting today to note the anniversary of that the document that came out of the bloodshed on that Maryland field. On September, 22 1862, President Abraham Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.
To a crowd serenading him at the White House afterward, Lincoln offered this humble assessment: "I can only trust in God I have made no mistake. I shall make no attempt on this occasion to sustain what I have done or said by any comment. It is now for the country and the world to pass judgment on it...."
- Comment (9)
- · Quote
- · UnfollowFollow (3)
Comments:
Jul '10
Re: September 22, 1862
?You know what's most striking on Lincoln's comments - his humility. ?Can you imagine any of today's pols having such an attitude. And what he did was far more important than anything today.
Jul '12
Re: September 22, 1862
Probably the most political, and most meaningless, document produced in American history.
Mar '12
Re: September 22, 1862
Indeed. You took the comment right off of my keyboard.
Jul '10
Re: September 22, 1862
Nonsense. Some have said that the document did not free a single slave. But in those Confederate territories occupied by the Union, slaves were freed. Additionally, it was one further headache for the South with the possibility of more slaves running away. And of course its biggest effect was reshaping the context and purpose of the war which essentially precluded any possibility of foreign involvement.
Jul '10
Re: September 22, 1862
Byron Horatio
Nonsense. Some have said that the document did not free a single slave. But in those Confederate territories occupied by the Union, slaves were freed. Additionally, it was one further headache for the South with the possibility of more slaves running away. And of course its biggest effect was reshaping the context and purpose of the war which essentially precluded any possibility of foreign involvement. · 1 hour ago
And those were only the immediate effects. Far more importantly, it was the first step in atoning for the nation's great mistake. One can argue it had been necessary, but as time went on it should have been obvious just how heinous an action it was.
Compare the dominant songs of the two sides. The South played a marching ditty; the North played a gospel song.
Jul '10
Re: September 22, 1862
Devereaux
Far more importantly, it was the first step in atoning for the nation's great mistake.
. · 20 minutes ago
Horse dung. Yer perception is off. Slavery ain't this "nation's great mistake." Slavery was the way of the world at the time.
Dr. Sowell asks,"The question isn't,'When did slavery end?,' but 'When did Freedom begin?'"
The birth of Freedom for millions upon millions ain't a "great mistake."
Re: September 22, 1862
Great op-ed over at the WSJ about how the Emancipation Proclamation saved the "central idea" of America.
Re: September 22, 1862
Meant to include this great Lincoln quotation in my comment above: "In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free."
Jul '10
Re: September 22, 1862
Jimmy Carter
Devereaux
Far more importantly, it was the first step in atoning for the nation's great mistake.
. · 20 minutes ago
Horse dung. Yer perception is off. Slavery ain't this "nation's great mistake." Slavery was the way of the world at the time.
Dr. Sowell asks,"The question isn't,'When did slavery end?,' but 'When did Freedom begin?'"
The birth of Freedom for millions upon millions ain't a "great mistake." · 16 hours ago
Whether it was the way of the world or not, it was a mistake. Massachusetts emancipated all slaves very early in the national process, recognizing its error.
There is STILL slavery in the world today. It is STILL a mistake. The birth of freedom has nothing to do with condoning slavery. This was an evangelical nation - it ought to have recognized slavery for the evil it was. Much of it did, but it compromised with the few southerners who demanded it.