Lincoln’s Proclamation Quotes

“early forties. Courtesy of the Library of Congress. The “Colored Men of Philadelphia” responded in anger and in love. They began by denying that color distinguished them as much as slavery did, forcing ignorance and poverty on them. Religion did not show that the Creator judged His creatures by their color. Stressing their status as property holders in Pennsylvania, owning houses and other property worth millions in the aggregate, they asked, “Shall we sacrifice this, leave our homes, forsake our birth-place, and flee to a strange land, to appease the anger and prejudice of the traitors now in arms against the Government, or their aiders and abettors in this or in foreign lands?” They also asked whether the strangers who would take their places would “make better citizens, prove as loyal, love the country better, and be as obedient to its laws as we have been?”
― William A. Blair, Lincoln’s Proclamation: Emancipation Reconsidered