Emancipation Proclamation

Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.

A lithograph of the Emancipation Proclamation with text of the order in central oval surrounded by ten vignettes. The five vignettes on the left depict the lives of the enslaved, and the five vignettes on the right depict the lives of freedmen. Directly above the central oval is a scene depicting a bald eagle and the allegorical figures Lady Justice and Columbia overseeing the vignettes. Beneath the central oval is a depiction of Abraham Lincoln in an oval decorative portrait frame surrounded by flags. Under the imagery of Lincoln is scene of freedmen surrounding an open Bible with text that reads [THANKS ALL YE PEOPLE, GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD:]. Text at bottom left reads [ENTERED ACCORDING TO ACT OF CONGRESS IN THE YEAR 1864 BY S. W. MARTIN AND N. P. JUDSON, IN THE CLERKS / OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE U.S. FOR THE DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN.

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