Emancipation Proclamation Anniversary Celebration Broadside   Save
Ohio History Connection
Description: This broadside announces that "the Colored people of Preble County, recognizing the blessings of Liberty, will celebrate the 18th anniversary of their deliverance from bondage" in Eaton on September 22, 1881. The noted speaker at the event was the Reverend W. F. Arnett of Nashville, Tennessee, who spoke in favor of the Republican Party. A significant topic of concern at the event was likely the assassination of Ohio-born President James A. Garfield, which occurred three days earlier. President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. It declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free." Because it applied to southern states, no slaves were freed by Lincoln's action. Not until the thirteenth amendment was added to the U.S. constitution in 1865 did slavery become illegal in all states. However, the proclamation had strong symbolic importance at the time and in the years to follow. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: Om1306_923293_001
Subjects: African American Ohioans; Civil Liberties; Emancipation proclamation; Presidents and Politics
Places: Eaton (Ohio); Preble County (Ohio)