Emancipation Proclamation goes into effect, January 1, 1863

Folks throughout the lowcountry attend watch services to celebrate the Emancipation Proclamation 148 years ago today. (The digital image of page 1 of the original Emancipation Proclamation illustrating this entry is from the National Archives).

The 2010 Connections New Year's Day entry gives some background on the Emancipation Proclamation. You can read about the historical significance of Camp Saxton Site in relation to the Emancipation Proclamation here. (A few photographs are included with the National Register nomination form).

Living History, an electronic newsletter from the History Channel, has a "This Day in History" feature which includes an article on the "Emancipation Proclamation goes into effect" for January 1st.

For those who want to dig deeper, the Archivist at Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, Mary-Jo Kline, recommends these books and articles about President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation:

Foner, Eric. The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery. New York: W.W. Norton, 2010. (Available through our Bluffton and St. Helena Branch Libraries)

Blair, William A., and Karen Fisher Younger, eds. Lincoln’s Proclamation: Emancipation Reconsidered. Chapel Hill: Univ. of N.C. Press, 2009. Edition of lectures by respected Civil War scholars, focusing on Lincoln’s views on slavery and his Emancipation Proclamation. (Available in the BDC only)

Gates, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and by Donald Yacovone, eds. Lincoln on Race & Slavery. Princeton: Princeton University Press, c2009. Collection of documents, definitive texts, rich historical notes. (Available through SC LENDS)

McPherson, James M. Abraham Lincoln. Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. Good short biography of Lincoln by one of the nation’s most eminent Civil War scholars. (Available through our Bluffton Branch Library)

In addition to the links found in the Connections entry about the document last year," I recommend Allen Guelzo’s “Emancipation Proclamation” article in History Now and Kline's additional resources page.

You can search the SC LENDS catalog here for the titles that most interest you from her suggestions.