April 24, 2024
Striking at the Root of the Rebellion: Lincoln, the Emancipation Proclamation & the Cause of Freedom
Albert L. Lorenzo Cultural Center 44575 Garfield Road Clinton Township, MI 48038 Organized by Macomb Community College
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About this event
On January 1, 1863, Detroit’s African Americans enthusiastically celebrated the day’s most momentous news—President Abraham Lincoln had used his war powers to sign the Emancipation Proclamation; America’s divisive “peculiar institution” was another step closer to its ultimate demise. Yet, Lincoln understood his actions required constitutional confirmation. In early 1865, Congress adopted the Thirteenth Amendment declaring slavery was dead. In the days immediately after the war ended—as the defeated Rebels sought to re-slave the four million freedmen--Congress affirmed the equal rights of America’s newest citizens by adopting the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. Learn about this turbulent time from MSU professor, Roger Rosentreter.