[Detail] The first reading of the Emancipation Proclamation
Standards
Collection Overview
The complete Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress consists of approximately 20,000 documents dating from 1833 to 1916. Most of the approximately 20,000 items, however, are from the 1850s through Lincoln's presidential years, 1860-65. Treasures in this collection include Lincoln's draft of the Emancipation Proclamation, his March 4, 1865 draft of his second Inaugural Address, and his August 23, 1864 memorandum expressing his expectation of being defeated in the upcoming presidential election. The bulk of the Lincoln Papers consists of letters written to Lincoln by a wide variety of correspondents: friends, and legal and political associates from Lincoln's Springfield, Illinois days; national and regional political figures and reformers; and local people and organizations writing to their president.
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Historical Eras
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The Civil War and Reconstruction, 1850-1877
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