Abraham Lincoln Swears That He Shall Not Retract or Modify the Emancipation Proclamation

Background

No other words of Lincoln so changed the lives of Americans as this blunt declaration from his Emancipation Proclamation, issued on January 1, 1863: “I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves, are, and henceforth shall be free.…” Almost a year later, as the terrible anguish of war continued, and thousands upon thousands of men gave up, each, their last breath, Lincoln had kept his word: millions of newly emancipated slaves now lived freely. Over 180,000 former slaves would ultimately join the Union Army. Whatever the sacrifice, there was no going back. As Lincoln had so professed after signing: “Broken eggs can not be mended.”

Lincoln defended it for the rest of his presidency. Even after Lincoln wrote - in the eight months following the Proclamation’s issue - four public letters explaining why he was in favor of emancipation, the abolitionist wing of the Republican Party still sought assurance that Lincoln was absolutely committed to the abolition of slavery. In his State of the Union Address of December 8, 1863, Lincoln again stated, unequivocally, his commitment to the Emancipation. This prompted the well-known organizer of New England abolitionism, Henry C. Wright, to request of Lincoln that he pen a handwritten, signed quotation of the sentiment that had so moved him:

God bless thee, Abraham Lincoln! With all my heart, & bless thee, in the name of God and Humanity! But – mark! I want nothing of you – you can do nothing for me – except – this one favor… that you will write for me, & subscribe your name to it – with your own hand – this sentence in your late message – i.e., “I shall not attempt to retract or modify… [etc.]” I have given 30 years of my life to the abolition of slavery – by lecturing, by public & private discussion, & by scattering, broad cast, tracts and pamphlets bearing on that subject. I regard the American Republic as the God-appointed Messiah of Liberty to the great family of Nations…

Lincoln, in return, responded to Wright on December 20th, with these memorable lines from his address:

I shall not attempt to retract or modify the emancipation proclamation; nor shall I return to slavery any person who is free by the terms of that proclamation, or by any of the acts of Congress.

This single sentence again memorializes Lincoln’s proudest moment.

Physical Description

Autograph Quotation Signed, 1 page, octavo, Executive Mansion, Washington, December 20, 1863. Written in reply to Henry C. Wright, lecturing agent of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society. Of the greatest rarity.
With:
 1) an Autograph Note, as President, being the four-line address of Henry C. Wright, 1 page, sextodecimo, no place [Washington], December 20, 1863.
2) an envelope, bearing the unusual printed heading, "From the President of the United States", addressed and franked by Lincoln’s secretary John Hay, copying Lincoln’s note; postmarked “Washington December 20, 1863.”
Used with the permission of Shapell legacy partnership.