(cont'd from yesterday's post)
But slavery states did withdraw into their own alternative government, and Lincoln had vowed to preserve the United States of America under its constitution. So civil war began less than one hundred years after the nation was founded.
After almost two years of war, on the first day of 1863 the president issued the Emancipation Proclamation:
"I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free . . ."
"And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution, upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind, and the gracious favor of Almighty God."
In March of 1863 the president followed up this move toward ending slavery with a designated day of prayer and fasting. He asked Americans to pray that God would forgive their national sins so that the nation could be restored to unity and peace.
(cont'd tomorrow)
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