Emancipation is the act of freeing someone or something from the control, power, or legal authority of another. It most commonly refers to liberation from slavery or the point at which a minor legally assumes adulthood.
The Emancipation Proclamation was an order issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, during the Civil War that stated enslaved Black Americans were free in Confederate-controlled states in the south. It was one year and eight months before the proclamation was declared. Abe was a man of his word and felt deeply about the bloodshed of Americans and was pained.
When “honest Abe” was living in New Salem, Illinois the first town he moved to after leaving his parents’ home in Indiana, he had a best friend named Billy Greene, a fellow general store clerk like him who introduced Lincoln to many colorful people and the study of English grammar which was appreciated by Lincoln having been self-taught as a child by reading many books. He never learned in classrooms and was an inquisitive child with many interests. His father’s laborious farm was not of interest to Abe who had an aversion to labor which he was doing endlessly his entire childhood. He would escape into books. Abe was so poor and couldn’t afford books but would borrow books or trade for books doing labor for neighbors. Abe’s mother died of food poisoning when Abe was young and his now stepmother Sarah encouraged Abraham to read which influenced his entire life for the good. He even read the Bible and knew it well.
After living in New Salem as a general store clerk for a spell, Lincoln moved to Springfield, Illinois in 1837 where he studied for and took the Bar exam, passed it and became a lawyer. He became an amazing attorney with his colorful humble background, great wit, common sense, superior intelligence and love of his neighbors who loved him back making Lincoln a popular man and a future politician stemming from his ambition and understanding of the Declaration of Independence; the needs of the community and his high self-esteem, outspoken concerns and ability to make Americans realize he was just like them. A humble hard-working American.
When Lincoln moved to Springfield, he was so broke he couldn’t afford a bed to sleep on. He walked into a local general store across from the law firm he was hired at and was told by the general store clerk, Joshua Speed that a bed would cost him $17.00 which he did not have. The store clerk liked down-to-earth Abraham Lincoln instantly and offered to share his upstairs room with only a double bed. Abe was thrilled to have a bed to lay on across from his law firm he worked at.
Later, Abe with his depth of knowledge and heartfelt concern for his friend, Speed experiencing anxiety due to being engaged and having doubts, Speed asked Abe’s advice. Abraham Lincoln had great depth of character and spirit a good heart. He advised Speed that the best way to conquer these anxious thoughts was to keep busy. He wrote, “You must make a man of yourself. You must not doze away the rest of your life.” He reminded Speed who was a dreamer of unreachable perfection that true happiness isn’t just handed to you or passively achieved; it requires active purpose, action, and taking firm responsibility for the kind of life you want and choose. He urged Speed to stop overthinking and channel his nervous energy into purposeful actionable goals to avoid wasting his life. Lincoln told Speed that for himself he felt that there must be goals for himself too to make his life worth something more than just existence. Throughout his life, Abraham Lincoln was often in deep melancholy to the point he was not able to do much but feel grief. He had experienced a lot of loss and death throughout his life. This is who Abe was that made him so great. He was saddened by slavery in his day and felt passionate about everything. Abe even cancelled his engagement to Mary Todd and walked away; although they got back together after one year and married. Abe took responsibility seriously. He didn’t set himself up for failure either.
The Bible frames emancipation as both physical, socio-economic right and a profound spiritual reality. In the Old Testament, God mandated the liberation of indentured servants after six years of labor and established the “Year of Jubilee” to cancel debts. In the New Testament, this physical liberation is elevated to a spiritual concept, where faith in Jesus Christ frees individuals from the bondage of sin.
Over time after having been heavily influenced by the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln who was raised in a devout Baptist home was famously opaque about his personal beliefs but after the tragic deaths of his sons, Abe developed a deep belief in a sovereign God all of which are documented in presidential history. He relied heavily on God in intense prayer for wisdom and said, “I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I have nowhere else to go.” When his friend Speed visited Abe in Washington, D.C., he reminded Lincoln about what he had said 25 years ago in Springfield, “I would perhaps just as soon die rather than not having done anything with my life to let people know I had lived.” Then when Lincoln was reminded, he said. “Perhaps with this Proclamation, my fondest wish will be realized.” Abraham Lincoln is remembered as one of the finest men who ever took office in the White House; a humble man all Americans know as “Honest Abe,” sitting at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.D.; the self-made man born in Kentucky on February 12, 1809. Abraham Lincoln was assassinated on April 15, 1865. His wife Mary never recovered.
Abraham Lincoln in many political debates used Holy Scriptures from the Bible to reason with men. He wrote the Emancipation Proclamation freeing blacks from slavery. President Lincoln even said that it will take over 100 years to remedy the harms of slavery on black Americans. It has been over 160 years, and the harm continues to be immeasurable. Satan is like a roaring lion waiting to devour someone; and the demons are busy influencing politicians with racist ideology having separated mankind throughout history and to date. Today, the term ‘black fatigue’ is heard constantly by those viewing on social media the ‘ghetto black’ American’s egregiously uncivilized violent behaviors in public by adults and children predominantly raised by single mothers absent of fathers on welfare without marketable skills although having many opportunities in America to educate themselves and prosper.
Like a roaring lion, Satan owns the ghetto blacks until they emancipate themselves from the clutches of dark hateful immoral spirits, repent and know God. (Book of John chapter 17, Book of Revelation chapter 12 and Book of Matthew chapter 24)
Much Christian love always by Anne Fisher Foundation.