In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emanicipation Proclamation, declaring that slaves in Rebel states were free.
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"And now let us believe in a long year that is given to us, new, untouched, full of things that have never been, full of work that has never been done, full of tasks, claims, and demands; and let us see that we learn to take it without letting fall to much of what it has to bestow upon those who demand of it ncessary, serious and great things."