February 1, 1865---"National Freedom Day"; John S. Rock, Esquire

FEBRUARY 1, 1865:                   

Abraham Lincoln signs the 13^th Amendment. In 1949 President Harry S. Truman of Independence, Missouri, designates February 1^st as “National Freedom Day” in Proclamation 2824:

Whereas, near the end of the tragic conflict between the Northern and Southern States, the Congress adopted a joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution which would outlaw slavery in the United States and in every place subject to its jurisdiction; and

Whereas the resolution was signed by President Lincoln on February 1, 1865, and thereafter led to the adoption of the Thirteenth Amendment to the constitution; and

Whereas that Amendment is a corner stone in the foundation of our American traditions, and the signing of the resolution is a landmark in the Nation's effort to fulfill the principles of freedom and justice proclaimed in the first ten amendments to the Constitution; and

Whereas, by a joint resolution approved June 30, 1948 (62 Stat. 1150), the Congress authorized the President to proclaim the first day of February of each year as National Freedom Day in commemoration of the signing of the resolution of February 1, 1865; and

Whereas the Government and people of the United States wholeheartedly support the Universal Declaration of Human Rights approved by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 10, 1948, which declares that "recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world":

Now, Therefore, I, Harry S. Truman, President of the United States of America, do hereby designate February 1, 1949, and each succeeding February 1, as national Freedom Day; and I call upon the people of the United States to pause on that day in solemn contemplation of the glorious blessings of freedom which we humbly and thankfully enjoy.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States of America to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington this 25th day of January in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and forty-nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and seventy-third.

HARRY S. TRUMAN

By the President:

DEAN ACHESON,

Secretary of State.     

The leading Abolitionist Senator Charles Sumner motions the U.S. Supreme Court to admit Dr. John S. Rock (1825-1866) as the first African American to practice before the bar of the High Court. Rock was a northern-born black who held both medical and law degrees. Rock’s declining health prevented him from fully exercising this hallmark privilege. He died of tuberculosis in December 1866.