794 



UNITED STATES. 



States, whose rebellion shall last until the first day of 

 January now next ensuing. The right of any persons 

 to retain authority to compel any portion of the sub- 

 jects of the national Government to rebel against it, 

 or to maintain its enemies, implies in those who are 

 allowed possession of such authority the right to rebel 

 themselves ; and, therefore, the right to establish mar- 

 tial law or military government in a State or Terri- 

 tory in rebellion, implies the right and duty of the 

 Government to liberate the minds of all men living 

 therein by appropriate proclamations and assurances 

 of protection, in order that all who are capable, intel- 

 lectually and morally, of loyalty and obedience, may 

 not be forced into treason as the unwilling tools of 

 rebellious traitors. To have continued indefinitely the 

 most efficient cause, support, aud stay of the rebellion, 

 would have been, in our judgment, unjust to the loyal 

 people whose treasures and lives ar made a willing 

 sacrifice on the altar of patriotism would have dis- 

 criminated against the wife who is compelled to sur- 

 render her husband, against the parent who is to sur- 

 render his child to the hardships of the camp and the 

 perils of battle, in favor of rebel masters permitted to 

 retain their slaves. It would have been a final decision 

 alike against humanity, justice, the rights and dignity 

 of the Government, and against sound and wise na- 

 tional policy. The decision of the President to strike 

 at the root of the rebellion will lend new vigor to the 

 efforts and new life and hope to the hearts of the peo- 

 ple. Cordially tendering to the President our respect- 

 ful assurances of personal and official confidence, we 

 trust and believe that the policy now inaugurated will 

 be crowned with success, will give speedy and trium- 

 phant victories over our enemies, and secure to this 

 nation and this people the blessing and favor of Al- 

 mighty God, We believe that the blood of the heroes 

 who have already fallen, and those who may yet give 

 their lives to their country, will not have been shed in 

 vain. 



This address was signed by the following 

 governors of States : A. G. Curtin, Penn. ; 

 John A. Andrew, Mass. ; Kichard Yates, 111. ; 

 Israel Washburne, jr., Me. ; Edward Salomon, 

 Wis. ; Samuel J. Kirkwood, Iowa ; O. P. Mor- 

 ton, Ind., by D. G. Eose, his representative ; 

 Wm. Sprague, K. I. ; F. H. Pierpont, Western 

 Va. ; David Tod, Ohio ; N. S. Berry, N. H. ; 

 and Austin Blair, Mich. 



The only ground upon which the Government 

 could rest for authority to adopt this measure 

 was, that it was a military necessity. "Whether 

 it was so or not, this is not the place to argue. 

 In estimating public measures, however, in the 

 light of history, facts should be considered. 

 The white male population of the Federal 

 States was 13,690,364. The white male popu- 

 lation of the Confederate States was 5,449,- 

 463. The number of troops which the Federal 

 Government had called into the field was up- 

 ward of 1,000,000. (See ARMY, UNITED 

 STATES.) The number of troops which the 

 Confederate Government had in the field was 

 400,000. (See ARMY, CONFEDERATE.) The Fed- 

 eral Government had a navy which was only 

 third in rank in the world, and more ironclads 

 than any other nation. (See NAVY, UNITED 

 STATES.) The Confederate Government had a 

 navy, which at that time consisted of a single 

 ship on the ocean. (See NAVY, CONFEDERATE.) 

 The people of the Federal States had a com- 

 merce afloat all over the world. The people of 

 the Confederate States had not a single com- 

 mercial vessel that dared to venture freely upon 



the ocean. The people of the Federal States 

 were the rivals of the greatest nations in man- 

 ufactures of every kind. The people of the 

 Confederate States had few manufactures, and 

 those of inferior articles. The Government of 

 the Federal States possessed the Treasury of the 

 United States, a nation of eighty years, with its 

 vast resources. The Confederate States had no 

 treasury nor financial resources. The am- 

 bassadors and representatives of the former 

 were welcomed at every court in the world. 

 The representatives of the latter were not rec- 

 ognized anywhere. 



Five days before the proclamation was is- 

 sued, the battle of Antietam was fought, which 

 was the turning point of the war, and decided 

 it in favor of the Federal States. 



The Secretary of War, in his report at the 

 commencement of the session of Congress, De- 

 cember, 1862, thus describes the military ne- 

 cessity which rendered emancipation neces- 

 sary : 



It is seen that a force has been placed by the people 

 of the United States at the command of the Govern- 

 ment to maintain its authority more mighty in all? the 

 Clements of warlike power than was ever before array- 

 ed under one banner. How shall that force be em- 

 ployed ? To smite the enemy on every hand, to at- 

 tack his armies and strongholds, to occupy his 

 ports, clear the great rivers of the West of his obstruc- 

 tions, and pause not until he is subdued, is our plain 

 duty. Above all, it is our duty to disdain no legiti- 

 mate aid that may save the lives of our gallant soldiers, 

 diminish their labors, provide for their wants, and 

 lessen the burdens of our people. No aphorism is more 

 universally received than that "the sole object of 

 a just war is to make the enemy feel the evils of his 

 injustice, and by his sufferings amend his ways; he 

 must, therefore, be attacked in his most accessible 

 quarter." 



The power of the rebels rests upon their peculiar 

 system of labor, which keeps laborers on their planta- 

 tions to support owners who are devoting their time 

 and strength to destroy our armies and destroy our 

 Government. Whenever that system is in hostility to 

 the Government, it is, in my opinion, the duty of those 

 conducting the war to strike down the system, and 

 turn against the rebels the productive power that up- 

 holds the insurrection. Rightly organized in the re- 

 covered territory, the laborers of the rebel States will 

 not only aid in holding fortified positions, but their 

 labor will, as in India, free the white soldier from the 

 most unwholesome exposure of the South. They 

 will cultivate the corn and forage which will feed our 

 cavalry and artillery horses, and save the country a 

 portion of the enormous burden now attending their 

 purchase and transport from the North. 



A population of four millions true to the interests of 

 the Union, with slight assistance from the army, will, 

 under proper regulation and government, be of the 

 greatest assistance in holding the territory once re- 

 covered. The principal staples of the South are the 

 product exclusively of their labor. If protected upon 

 the lands they have heretofore cultivated, with some 

 organization, and with support from small detachments 

 of loyal troops, they would not only produce much of 

 what is needed to feed our armies and their trains, but 

 they would forever cut ofl' from the rebellion the re- 

 sources of a country thus occupied. 



On the 1st of January, 1863, the emancipa- 

 tion was made absolute in the Confederate 

 States, with the exception of a few districts, 

 by the proclamation of President Lincoln. 



The proclamation closes with these words: 



