Emancipation Proclamation

"Not often unto mortal is it given --
Whate'er his worldy rank or state may be --
The power, sustained by principle and truth,
To set, as Lincoln did, a people free.
He was ordained to do this Christlike deed,
To snap the bonds of slavery apart.
To break the chains which held the negro down,
And draw the iron from his bleeding heart.
This Proclamation, stamped with his strong will,
This write of Freedom, sealed by his firm hand,
This last, great act, Emancipation\s prayer,
Freeing all bonds men living in the land,
will cause Humanity throughout the world,
To bless and honor Abrham Lincoln's name.
And more than marble fane or statue could,
will crown his memory with enduring fame."

Poem from Frank Wells to President Abraham Lincoln celebrating the Emancipation Proclamation, signed January 1, 1863.