HJ0088 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HJ0088 LRB094 18542 HSS 54311 r

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, President Abraham Lincoln advanced a proposal in the closing weeks of 1861 for federal support for gradual, compensated emancipation, through action of the legislatures of the border states, but which failed due to lack of sufficient support in those states; and

WHEREAS, On July 22, 1862, at a cabinet meeting, President Lincoln announced that, on the basis of his power as Commander in Chief, he proposed to issue a proclamation freeing all slaves in Confederate held territory as of January 1, 1863, if the rebels did not rejoin the Union by that date, with or without the consent of his cabinet; however, he agreed to put a hold on issuing the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation until Union forces had won a significant battle, which the federal forces did at Antietam, Maryland, on September 17, 1862, the bloodiest single day of the Civil War; and

WHEREAS, President Lincoln then issued, on September 22, 1862, the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, and on December 29, 1862, he presented the final draft of the Emancipation Proclamation to his cabinet; and

WHEREAS, President Lincoln later became convinced of the need for a constitutional amendment banning slavery to assure that emancipation remained secure after the conclusion of the war, which led to the introduction in the United States Senate of the Thirteenth Amendment outlawing slavery; and

WHEREAS, The full meaning of the Emancipation Proclamation emerged when, on April 8, 1864, the United States Senate passed the Thirteenth Amendment outlawing slavery; it failed, initially, to get the required two-thirds majority in the United States House of Representatives, due to the obstruction of Democrats, but public pressure forced enough Democrats to change their votes, so that the House ratified the amendment on January 31, 1865; and

WHEREAS, Several months after President Lincoln's assassination, the Thirteen Amendment, outlawing slavery, was declared adopted on December 18, 1865, when it had been ratified by the legislatures of 27 of the then 36 states; and

WHEREAS, The Illinois General Assembly wishes to adopt this resolution as an acknowledgement of the significance of Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation to our nation and the world; and

WHEREAS, Abraham Lincoln lived in Illinois throughout his adult life, except while serving our nation as its 16th President; and

WHEREAS, Abraham Lincoln served the State of Illinois through four terms in the Illinois House of Representatives and one term in the United States House of Representatives; and

WHEREAS, Abraham Lincoln helped found the Illinois Republican Party and twice ran for a seat in the United States Senate; and

WHEREAS, Abraham Lincoln was twice elected as President of the United States and served our nation in that capacity from March 4, 1861, until his death, as the result of assassination, on April 15, 1865; and

WHEREAS, The Emancipation Proclamation led to the freedom of four million slaves, the subsequent broadening of the right to vote to more Americans, and advanced the cause of human rights in the world; and

WHEREAS, On January 1, 1863, President Lincoln signed the final, corrected version of the Emancipation Proclamation; and

WHEREAS, The Emancipation Proclamation changed the dynamic of the war by turning the federal armies into agents of liberation and by giving slaves a direct and vital interest in the defeat of the Confederate States; and

WHEREAS, Emancipation enormously raised the stature of the Union cause internationally; by turning the Civil War into a war against slavery, President Lincoln attracted to the Union's side workers and progressive-minded people all over the world; it greatly complicated the position of those governments, such as that in Great Britain, that were considering intervention on the side of the Confederacy; and

WHEREAS, The Emancipation Proclamation managed to destabilize slavery even where it still technically remained legal; in Missouri and Tennessee, areas exempted from the Emancipation Proclamation, slaves deserted plantations en masse; and

WHEREAS, Slavery was further undermined by President Lincoln's decision, spelled out in the Emancipation Proclamation, to recruit black soldiers into the Union army; the Union eventually recruited 200,000 African Americans, who served on many fronts; and

WHEREAS, The Emancipation Proclamation laid the basis for the Union victory in 1865 and led to the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment outlawing slavery as a socio-political system; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that the first week of January in 2007 shall be known as Emancipation Proclamation Week to recognize the enormous importance of the Emancipation Proclamation authored by Illinois' Abraham Lincoln, then President of the United States, and signed into effect on January 1, 1863; and be it further

RESOLVED, That schools and other institutions in our State are encouraged to celebrate the Emancipation Proclamation and educate our young people about its historical significance.