By the President of the United States of America: A
Proclamation.1
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, to wit:2
"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 repress3
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,4
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 countervailing5
testimony, be
[1]
1. announcement or decree
2. The phrase “to wit” means “that is to say, namely.”
3. Repress (verb) restrict, persecute
4. previously stated or mentioned
5. contradictory
1
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 the
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 accordance6 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, to wit:
Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, (except the Parishes of St. Bernard, Plaquemines, Jefferson, St. John, 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
forty-eight 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 and 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 enjoin7
upon the people so declared to be free to abstain8
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.
1. PART A: What was Lincoln's most likely purpose for issuing the Emancipation Proclamation? (RI6)
*
A. To free all enslaved people in America and bring an end to the institution of slavery once and for all
B. To free most slaves in America, namely those in the rebelling states, thus weakening said states
C. To strengthen both the Union and the Confederate armies by allowing newly freed slaves to join
D. To provoke the South into an all-out civil war against the North
2. PART B: Which of the following best supports the answer to Part A? (RI1)
*
A. "…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…." (Paragraph 2)
B. "…the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons…."(Paragraph 2)
C. "And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free to abstain from all violence, unless in necessary selfdefence; and I recommend to them that, in all cases when allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonable wages." (Paragraph 7)
D. "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,
Constitution, upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind, and the gracious favor of Almighty God." (Paragraph 9)
3. Which of the following best describes the constitutional principle which allows President Lincoln to make this proclamation? (RI9)
*
A. His power as the Commander-in-Chief
B. The Thirteenth Amendment
C. The power of Congress to declare war
D. The right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness
4. What is the purpose of paragraph 5 in the structure of the text? (ri5)
*
A. It serves to break up the blocky text of the rest of the proclamation by providing a list of rebel states.
B. It lists all of the states and parts of states that are considered in rebellion against the Unites States and the ways in which they can be proven otherwise.
C. It lists all of the states and parts of states that are considered in rebellion against the United States in order to make clear those in which slaves are now considered free.
D. It lists all of the states and parts of states that are considered in rebellion against the United States; Lincoln is essentially declaring war on them.
1. B. To free most slaves in America, namely those in the rebelling states, thus weakening said states
2. A. "…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…." (Paragraph 2)
3. A. His power as the Commander-in-Chief
4. C. It lists all of the states and parts of states that are considered in rebellion against the United States in order to make clear those in which slaves are now considered free.