Title

By The President Of The United States: A Proclamation.

Creator

John Murray Forbes

Files

Creator Role

publisher

Description

The object is a folio broadside of the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. The broadside is printed in one column and features a bold heading, printing of American eagle, and flag at the top center. No publisher is noted, but sources establish a possible attribution to J.M. Forbes, Boston. It was printed circa September-December, 1862. The broadside is a scarce early printing in an unusually large size.

Description Source

Heritage Auctions. https://historical.ha.com/itm/miscellaneous/broadside/preliminary-emancipation-proclamation-broadside/a/6118-49053.s (accessed June 5, 2018).

Transcription

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ■A PROCLAMATION. i I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, and Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy thereof, do hereby proclaim and declare that hereafter, as heretofore, the war will be prosecuted for the object of practically restoring the constitutional relation between the United States and the people thereof, in which States that relation is or may be suspended or disturbed ; that it is my purpose at the next meeting of Congress to again recommend the adoption of a practical measure, tendering pecuniary aid to the free acceptance or rejection of all the slave States, so called, the people whereof may not then be in rebellion against the United States, and which States may then have voluntarily adopted, or thereafter may voluntarily adopt, immediate or gradual abolishment of slavery within their respective limits, and that the effort to colonize persons of African descent with their consent upon this continent, or elsewhere, with the previously obtained consent of the Governments existing there, will be continued; that on the 1st 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 any 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, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom; that the Executive will, on the 1st day of January aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the States, or 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 have not been in rebellion against the United States; that attention is hereby called to an act of Congress, entitled "an act to make an additional article of war," approved March 13, 1862, and winch act is in the words and figures following: " Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That hereafter the following shall be promulgated as an additional article of war for the government- of the army of the United States, and shall be obeyed and observed as such. " Sect. 2. And be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect from and after its passage." Also to the 9th and 10th sections of an act entitled "An act to suppress insurrection, to punish treason and rebellion, to seize and confiscate property of rebels, and for other purposes," approved July 17, 1862, and which sections are in the words and figure following: " Sect. 9. And be it further enacted, That all slaves of persons who shall hereafter be engaged in rebellion against the Government of the United States, or who shall in any way give aid or comfort thereto, escaping from such persons and taking refuge within the lines of the army, and all slaves captured from such persons, or deserted by them and coming Under the control of the Government of the United States, and all slaves of such persons found or being within any place occupied by rebel forces and afterwards occupied by the forces of the United States, shall be deemed captives of war, and shall be forever free of their servitude, and not again held as slaves. " Article —. All officers or persons in the military or naval service of the United States are prohibited from employing any of the forces under their respective commands for the purpose of returning fugitives from service or labor, avIio may have escaped from any person to whom such service or labor is claimed to be due, and any officer who shall be found guilty, by Court Martial, of violating this article, shall be dismissed from the service. , • • "Sect. 10. And be it further enacted, That no slave escaping into any State, Territory, or the District of Columbia, from any of the States, shall be delivered up or in any way impeded or hindered of his liberty, except for crime or some offence against the laws, unless the person claiming said fugitive shall first make oath that the person to whom the labor or service of such fugitive is alleged to be due is his lawful owner, and has not been in arms against the United States in the present rebellion, nor in any way given aid and comfort thereto; and no person engaged in the military or naval service of the United States shall, under any pretence whatever, assume to decide on the validity of the claim of any person to the service or labor of any other person, or surrender up any such person to the claimant, on pain of being dismissed from the service." And I do hereby enjoin upon and order all persons engaged in the military and naval service of the United States to observe, obey and enforce, within their respective spheres of service, the acts and sections above recited, and the Executive will, in due time, recommend that all citizens of the United States, who shall have remained loyal thereto throughout the rebellion, shall, upon the restoration of the Constitutional relations between the United States and their respective States and people, if the relations shall have been suspended or disturbed, be compensated for all losses by acts of the United States, including the loss of slaves. In witness whereof 1 have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the City of Washington, this 22d day of September, in the year of our Jx>rd one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, and of the Independence of the United States the 87th. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. By the President.: WM. H. SEWARD, Secretary of State. SLAVERY THE CHIEF CORNER-STONE. "This stone (slavery), which was rejected by the first builders, is become the chief stone of the Corner in OUr new edifice." Speech of Alex. H. Stepliens, Vice President of the Cotton Confederacy; delivered March 21, 1861.

Contributor

Justice Frank J. and Virginia Williams

Earliest

1860

Latest

1869

Approximate Creation Date

ca. 1862

Measurement

16" X 11 3/4"

Materials and Techniques Display

ink on paper

Inscription

Top center: BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: / A PROCLAMATION. / [Proclamation text follows] bottom center: SLAVERY THE CHIEF CORNER-STONE. / "This stone (slavery), which was rejected by the first builders, is become the chief stone of the / corner in our new edifice." -- Speech of Alex. H. Stephens , Vice President of the Cotton Confederacy ; delivered March 21, 1861.

Subjects

Emancipation Proclamation; Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865

Work Type

broadside (notice)

Class

poster

Preferred Citation

[Physical ID#]: [Title], Frank and Virginia Williams Collection of Lincolniana, Mississippi State University Libraries.

Rights

Copyright protected by Mississippi State University Libraries. Use of materials from this collection beyond the exceptions provided for in the Fair Use and Educational Use clauses of the U.S. Copyright Law may violate federal law. Permission to publish or reproduce is required.

ID

5338

Digital ID

FVW_05338

Current Location

Frank and Virginia Williams Collection of Lincolniana (Mississippi State, Mississippi, United States)

Repository

Mississippi State University Libraries.

Digital Publisher

Mississippi State University Libraries (electronic version).

Contact Information

For more information about the contents of this collection, email sp_coll@library.msstate.edu.