| THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION And great clashes ensued, leaving death in their dust, Most were boys barely twenty -- souls put in God's trust. Still, they drained and they drilled, they made camp on the ground, From farm boy to tough soldier, their innocence drowned. And through cannon blasts and shot, through corpses left to rot, Wtih bodies torn and maimed, they learned to hold their spot. From Antietam to Shiloh, from Vicksburg to Jackson, War's maelstrom did rage with blood and with action. And how it tortured Old Abe as it dragged on for years. But the graycoats were gritty and fought without fears. Lead by their finest -- the man Abe had wanted -- General Robert E. Lee, of valor so vaunted. Of course Union soldiers were also quite brave, And did march with great honor in wave after wave. Yet the effort seemed flailing and unsure of its aims: Indeed, for a cost in lost lives, what were the gains? Ah, but many up North, with a still racist cast, Were not eager to fight to see blacks free at last. As in towns like New York, draft riots took place, With angry white mobs wearing hate's ugly face. And so Abe maintained that the goal of this fray Was to bring the South back -- and to not change its way. But still other good Yanks, who did praise freedom's cause, Were not heartened to hear their commander give pause! So you see what a fix Mister Lincoln did face, And why he did pray for The Lord's guiding grace. But as conflict continued, it was more and more plain That the core of this quarrel was a race kept in chains. And so Abe sallied forth in 1863 To declare a new law: that all shall be free! Yes, to salvage this land and to make whole our nation, Lincoln did sign The Emancipation Proclamation. |
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| Worksheet # 71 |
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