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A poem by John Greenleaf Whittier |
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To John C. Fremont |
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Title: To John C. Fremont Author: John Greenleaf Whittier [More Titles by Whittier] On the 31st of August, 1861, General Fremont, then in charge of the Western Department, issued a proclamation which contained a clause, famous as the first announcement of emancipation: "The property," it declared, "real and personal, of all persons in the State of Missouri, who shall take up arms against the United States, or who shall be directly proven to have taken active part with their enemies in the field, is declared to be confiscated to the public use; and their slaves, if any they have, are hereby declared free men." Mr. Lincoln regarded the proclamation as premature and countermanded it, after vainly endeavoring to persuade Fremont of his own motion to revoke it. THY error, Fremont, simply was to act [The end] GO TO TOP OF SCREEN |