Did you read the special order from Gen. Curtis in yesterday’s paper? Thank heaven we have one General in our ranks who “knowing his rights dare maintain them.” But Gen. Curtis is not the only one. His course is the rule, not the exception, and the soldiers all say amen. He mentions the names of certain colored men – yes, he says men, not chattels – who were the slaves of rebels and had sought his protection; he commands that these men be permitted to pass the pickets of his command northward without hindrance, and adds, that “they are forever emancipated from the service of masters who allowed them to aid in the efforts to break up the Government and laws of our country.” That’s the doctrine. That’s practical emancipation. That’s carrying out the President’s idea, that “when a negro has once touched the hem of the Government’s garment he shall never again be a slave.” The world moves and men move with it.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Thursday Morning, April 3, 1862, p. 2
No comments:
Post a Comment