Father Abraham's Proclamation a machine-readable transcription R. J. Weir Elizabeth Lorang Kristen Treen transcription and encoding Kristen Treen R. J. Weir Elizabeth Lorang aa.18631003.1 cwnewspaperpoetry Scholarly Editing: The Annual of the Association for Documentary Editing
http://www.scholarlyediting.org
Association for Documentary Editing University of Nebraska–Lincoln Center for Digital Research in the Humanities
319 Love Library University of Nebraska–Lincoln Lincoln, NE 68588-4100 http://cdrh.unl.edu
2012

Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/). Derivatives must be credited to R. J. Weir and Elizabeth Lorang, made available non-commercially, and distributed under the same terms.

 Scholarly Editing: The Annual of the Association for Documentary Editing editor Amanda Gailey editor Andrew Jewell 34 2167-1257 [Unsigned] Father Abraham's Proclamation The Anglo-African 3 October 1863 [1] The microfilm copy used for transcription was loaned by Indiana University-Bloomington. <imprint> <date sameAs="#issue_date"/> </imprint> </monogr> </biblStruct> </sourceDesc> </fileDesc> <encodingDesc> <p>This electronic text is a semi-diplomatic transcription of the source text. Hyphenation, punctuation, variant spellings, and errors present in the source text have been retained. The transcription does not attempt to capture all aspects of the original formatting or layout.</p> </encodingDesc> <profileDesc> <creation> <persName xml:id="unk">Unknown</persName> <persName xml:id="rh">Hamilton, Robert</persName> <persName xml:id="th">Hamilton, Thomas</persName> <date when="1863">1863</date> </creation> <langUsage> <language ident="en-US">modern American English</language> </langUsage> <textClass> <classCode scheme="http://authorities.loc.gov"> <term>Confederate States of America</term> <term>Confederate States of America--Social conditions</term> <term>Lincoln, Abraham, 1744-1786</term> <term>Slavery--United States--History--19th century</term> <term>Slaves--Emancipation--United States</term> <term>Slaves--Emancipation--United States--Anniversaries, etc</term> </classCode> </textClass> </profileDesc> <revisionDesc> <change when="2013-03-05" who="#el">notes tweaks</change> <change when="2013-03-02" who="#el">made copyediting changes</change> <change when="2013-01" who="#el">revised transcription and encoding to address errors and inconsistencies; updated editorial notes</change> <change when="2012-11" who="#awj">added Scholarly Editing info to TEI header</change> <change when="2012-09-29" who="#el">checked transcription and encoding</change> <change when="2012-09-25" who="#kt">encoded</change> <change when="2012-06" who="#bw">checked</change> <change when="2012-05" who="#kt">transcribed</change> </revisionDesc> </teiHeader> <facsimile corresp="#issue"> <surface xml:id="pp1"> <graphic url="aa.18631003.pp1.jpg"/> <zone xml:id="pp1_cropped" corresp="#poem"> <graphic url="aa.18631003.pp1_cropped.jpg"/> </zone> </surface> <surface xml:id="pp2"> <graphic url="aa.18631003.pp2.jpg"/> </surface> <surface xml:id="pp3"> <graphic url="aa.18631003.pp3.jpg"/> </surface> <surface xml:id="pp4"> <graphic url="aa.18631003.pp4.jpg"/> </surface> </facsimile> <text corresp="#poem #pp1_cropped"> <body> <lg type="poem"> <head type="main" subtype="authorial" rend="center">FATHER ABRAHAM'S PROCLAMATION.<note type="editorial" resp="#bw #el"><p>President Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) issued his Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. In it, he declared that "all persons held as slaves" in rebel states "are, and henceforward shall be free." He also pledged that "the Executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof," would "recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons" (Roy P. Basler, ed., <title level="m">The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln [New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1953], 6:29–30). Although the proclamation did not touch slavery in loyal border states and exempted Union-occupied regions of the Louisiana and Virginia as well as Tennessee, abolitionists recognized and celebrated it as a great step forward.

The familiar name "Father Abraham" circulated widely in the latter half of the war. James Sloan Gibbons's popular recruiting song "We are Coming, Father Abraham, Three Hundred Thousand More" (1862) likened Lincoln to the biblical patriarch. "Father Abraham" at once paid tribute to Lincoln's leadership and affirmed a close connection defined by paternal care and familial loyalty. Historian Michael Burlingame notes the discourse of fatherhood in black and white responses to Lincoln's death (Abraham Lincoln: A Life [Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008], 2:829).

A SONGThe lyrics were probably set to the immensely popular tune of "John Brown's Body," described by Christian McWhirter as "the Union's national hymn" (Battle Hymns: The Power and Popularity of Music in the Civil War [Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2012], 41). Versions of the song—associated with abolitionist martyr Brown and his militant antislavery message—promoted African American enlistment. In addition to "Father Abraham's Proclamation," see "A War Song for the Black Volunteers" (Anglo-African, October 10, 1863) and "Marching Song of the First Arkansas" (Anglo-African, March 5, 1864). FOR THE CONTRABANDS.General Benjamin F. Butler, commander at Fortress Monroe, defined fugitive slaves as "contraband of war" in the summer of 1861. Labeled as rebel property, runaway slaves could be confiscated by Union troops; doing so would deprive the Confederate war effort of manpower and secure military laborers for federal commanders, without challenging slavery on legal grounds. Secretary of War Simon Cameron approved the policy, which was consolidated by the terms of the First Confiscation Act. See Freedom: A Documentary History of Emancipation, 1861–1867, ed. Ira Berlin, et al. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985), series 1, 1:15–16. Although the final Emancipation Proclamation transformed the legal status of many "contrabands," the term continued to circulate in the North. Father Abraham has spoken, and his words have magic power, They tell us of the coming of the long-expected hour: Upon our night of sorrow the dawn of joy appears, And our hearts beat high with pleasure, though our eyes be dim with tears. Farewell to the old plantation on the island by the sea! To the cabin and the overseer! Our home is with the free. Beneath the flag of Freedom, with its red, white and blue, We'll show that new-made freemen can be to Freedom true. Father Abraham has spoken, and we answer to his call, From the cotton-fields and rice-swamps we're coming one and all; Having drained the cup of Slavery, we fear no greater woe— Its chain cuts closer to the heart than the weapon of the foe. In peace, they call both chattels—the bullock and the slave; In war, we claim the title to rank among the brave; Add where the battle thunder-clouds in wildest fury roll, We'll prove that black, as well as white, can show a hero's soul. Father Abraham has spoken, and through many a cabin door The light of hope has entered where it never shone before; The Man has risen in his might where the Slave would powerless lie, And for honest Father Abraham he will not fear to die. The slave may fear his master, but loose his shackled hand, And new-born courage fills his heart as he grasps a free-man'sfreeman's brand; And where the bravest lead the van, he'll follow with the brave, To gain a patriot's honored name, or fill a soldier's grave.