Today I delivered what could be one of the most important documents in United States history: The Emancipation Proclamation. Of course, this was not the plan that I had originally intended. Ever since I became President, my goal had always been to eventually end slavery. I recognized that this would be a process, and that it would take time and patience to make it a reality. It seems that in the past few months though, my patience has run thin. There is not time to wait for Legislation to pass. There is still much opposition to the cause, and I must act to do what is right. Up to this point, we have been "wise as serpents, and harmless as doves." But, now is the time for boldness. No doubt this is the biggest political gamble of my career, and one of the greatest in American history. The wave of slavery has come upon myself and this land, and I will throw myself into it, whether to sink or swim...but I will make a splash. This is how I will be remembered.
A. Lincoln
This entry is based off of the Emancipation Proclamation that Lincoln delivered on January 1, 1863. Additional information and interpretation come from secondary sources by Alan C. Guelzo, Michael Burlingame, and David H. Donald. Selections from their works and further reading can be found at the Lincoln's Writing website (http://housedivided.dickinson.edu/sites/lincoln/emancipation-proclamation-january-1-1863/)
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