His Hand Trembled — The Emancipation Proclamation, January 1, 1863
January 1, 1863. Lincoln picked up the pen. His hand was shaking. 'Today of all days, it must not tremble.' Then he signed.
After Antietam
September 1862. Days after the Battle of Antietam, Lincoln issued a preliminary proclamation.
On January 1, 1863, all slaves in states still in rebellion would be forever free.
Unless the South surrendered first.
January 1, 1863
New Year's Day. A reception at the White House. Lincoln shook hands with hundreds of guests for three hours.
That afternoon, he walked upstairs to his office. The proclamation lay on his desk.
He picked up the pen. His hand was trembling.
The Trembling Hand
Lincoln said:
"My hand is numb from shaking so many hands today. But if my signature wavers, people will say I hesitated."
He waited a moment. Then signed — slowly, deliberately.
Abraham Lincoln.
The Effect
The proclamation applied only to slaves in Confederate states. Border states were exempt.
No slave was immediately freed. The South ignored it.
But the war had changed. The Union Army was now fighting to end slavery.
Proclamation effective: January 1, 1863 | Applied to: ~3.5 million enslaved people in rebel states | Full abolition: 13th Amendment, 1865
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