Today is not only the New Year, but
also the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. Having just finished reading the new non-fiction young adult book, The
Emancipation Proclamation: Lincoln
and the Dawn of Liberty by Tonya Bolden, the significance of this day is
greatly enhanced.
This is the history we never learned
in school.
Bolden plunges the reader into the
social and political climate leading up to the event, and the enigmatic
character of Abraham Lincoln. She begins the book with a quote by Frederick
Douglass, “We were waiting and listening as for a bolt from the sky…we were
watching, as it were, by the dim light of the stars, for the dawn of a new day;
we were longing for the agonizing prayers of centuries.”
Voices from contemporary participants
and observers such as Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, John Charles
Fremont, Harriet Tubman, Charlotte Forten, Sandy Cornish and many others are
recounted. (If you don't recognize some of these names their stories will
become very meaningful to you after reading the book.) The text is delivered in
an active, present tense similar to a news report, so that there is immediacy
to all the events. (Some may note that
not much has changed, when the political animosity of congress members is
described.) Illustrated with contemporary paintings, political cartoons and
photographs, each with detailed captions, noting the social, political or
ideological markers that may be lost on present-day readers, the visual
literacy of the reader is greatly enhanced.
Lincoln is revealed in all his
contradictory statements and philosophies, which illustrate his difficulty in
coming to a decision which satisfied his moral, political, legal and
constitutional views. Bolden inserts parts of the constitution and the evolving
proclamation, so that the problems in coming to a consensus on a difficult
issue can be understood.
In the Epilogue, a measured yet personal
examination of Lincoln and the proclamation is presented, which will be a spur
to lively discussions and reflection in the classroom.
For the New Year, and for this
anniversary, may teachers and students use texts such as these to create a
greater understanding of our history.
