Abraham
Lincoln was a complicated person; he was president at a complicated time; and the path to the abolition of slavery was complicated. In Emancipation Proclamation: Lincoln and the Dawn of Liberty, Tonya
Bolden explores the roots of the Civil War; Lincoln's changing perspective regarding the role and rights of blacks in our nation; the core of
abolitionists who worked tirelessly for unabridged freedom for all; and the
landmark documents that led in 1865 to the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S.
Constitution, abolishing slavery. This informative book opens with a
reflection of Frederick Douglass as he and others committed to abolition waited
for word that Lincoln had signed the proclamation of liberation on January 1,
1863: “We were waiting and listening as for a bolt from the sky…we were
watching, as it were, by the dim light of the stars, for the dawn of a new
day…” The Emancipation Proclamation declared to be free all slaves held in
southern states fighting against the Union (“those in rebellion against the
United States”), an action that hastened the movement of blacks to northern
states and weakened the military might of the south. Truth be told, the
proclamation was a war measure, one that Lincoln viewed as essential to
preserving the Union, his primary goal at the time. His voice had yet to carry the resounding clarity regarding equality that it would in the future. Bolden
employs numerous original documents – manuscripts, paintings, photos, maps,
newspapers – to clarify the myriad personalities and issues of the day, and the
result is fascinating. Nonfiction such as this for young readers is a vital
component of our nation’s story. Ages 10 up.
