William Wallace Lincoln

 

By the President of the United States of America :

A PROCLAMATION

  Whereas on the 22nd day of September, A.D. 1862, a proclamation was issued by the President of the United States, containing, among other things, the following, to wit :

  "That on the 1st day of January, A.D. 1863, 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 repress 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 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 States shall have participated shall, in the absence of strong countervailing testimony, be 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 supressing said rebellion, do, on this 1st day of January, A.D. 1863, and in accordance with my purpose so to do, publicly proclaimed for the full period of one hundred days from the first day 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, Palquemines, Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. James, Ascension, Assumption, Terrebone, 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 Berkeley, Accomac, Morthhampton, Elizabeth City, York, Princess Anne, 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 enjoin upon the people so declared to be free to

abstain from all violence, unless in necessary self-defence; and

I recommend to them that, in all case 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.

Humbuggery

The word "Humbug" is misunderstood by many people, 

which is a pity since 

the word provides 

a key insight into 

Scrooge's hatred 

of Christmas. 

The word "Humbug" describes deceitful efforts to fool people 

by assuming a fake loftiness or false sincerity. 

So when Scrooge calls 

Christmas a Humbug, 

he is claiming that people only 

feign charity and kindness 

in a scoundrel effort to delude him, 

each other, and themselves. 

In Scrooge's eyes, he is 

the one man honest enough 

to admit that no one really 

cares about anyone else, 

so for him, every wish 

for a 'Merry Christmas' 

is one more deceitful effort 

to fool or take advantage of him. 

This is a man who has turned to profit 

because he honestly believes 

that everyone else will 

someday betray him 

or abandon him 

the moment 

he trusts them.

Lincoln 4 cellar meeting 3 23

Lincoln :

Since we have the floor next in the de-bate, I thought I'd suggest you might temper your contribution so as not to frighten our conservative friends. 

Ashley insists you're ensuring approval 

by dispensing patronage to 

otherwise undeserving Democrats. 

I can't ensure a single damn thing if you scare the whole House silly with talk of land appropriations and revolutionary tribunals. 

When the war ends, I intend to push for full equality, the Negro vote, and much more. Congress shall mandate the seizure of every foot of Rebel land and every dollar of their property -- 

We'll use their confiscated wealth to establish hundreds of thousands of free Negro farmers and, at their side, soldiers armed to occupy and transform the heritage of traitors;

We'll build up a land down there of free men and free women and free children and Freedom. 

The Nation needs to know that we have such plans. 

Lincoln :

....That's the untempered version of reconstruction. 

It is not... It's not quite exactly what I intend. 

But we shall oppose one another in the course of time -- 

Now we're working together, and I'm asking you... 

....for patience, I expect. 

When the people disagree, bringing them together 

requires going slow until they're ready to... 

Shit on The People, and what they want 

and what they're ready for. 

I don't give a goddamn about the people and what they want --

This is the face of someone who has fought long and hard 

for The Good of The People 

without caring much for any of them. 

And I look a lot worse without my wig. 

The people elected me to represent them, 

to lead them, and I lead -- You ought to try it. 

I admire your zeal, Mr Stevens and I have tried 

to profit from the example of it --

But if I'd listened to you, I'd have declared every slave free 

the minute the first shell struck Fort Sumter --

The border states would have gone over to the Confederacy, 

The War would have been lost and the Union along with it, and instead of abolishing slavery as we hope to do in two weeks, we'd be watching, helpless as infants, as it spread from the American South into South America. 

Stephens :

Oh, how you have longed to say that to me.... 

You claim you trust them, 

but you know what The People are -- 

You know that the inner compass, that should direct the soul towards justice has ossified in white men and women, North and South, unto utter uselessness, through tolerating the evil of slavery. White people cannot bear the thought of sharing this country's infinite abundance with Negroes. A compass, I learned when I was surveying, it'll point you true north from where you're standing. But it's got no advice about the swamps and deserts and chasms that you'll encounter along the way. If in pursuit of your destination, you plunge ahead, heedless of obstacles and achieve nothing more than to sink in a swamp, what's the use of knowing true north?