But even before 1862 and the possibility of a Presidential Emancipation, African people had gathered on New Year’s Eve on plantations across the South. That is because many owners of enslaved Africans tallied up their business accounts on the first day of each new year. Human property was sold along with land and furnishings to satisfy debts. Families and friends were separated. Often they never saw each other again in this earthly world. Thus coming together on December 31 might be the last time for enslaved and free Africans to be together with loved ones.
So, Black folks in North America have gathered annually on New Year’s Eve since the earliest days, praising God for bringing us safely through another year and praying for the future. Certainly, those traditional gatherings were made even more poignant by the events of 1863 which brought freedom to the slaves and the Year of Jubilee. Many generations have passed since and most of us were never taught the African American history of Watch Night. Yet our traditions and our faith still bring us together at the end of every year to celebrate once again “how we got over.”
WASHINGTON, USA (AP) — The tradition of waiting up until midnight on December 31 began 150 years ago — in 1862 — as slaves in the US gathered in churches to await word that President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation had taken effect.
Lincoln had promised 100 days earlier that he would declare all slaves in states rebelling against the Union in a bloody Civil War to be “forever free”. Later, congregations listened as the president’s historic words were read aloud.
LINCOLN… promised slaves freedom as a means of ending American Civil War.
The proclamation would not end slavery outright and at the time couldn’t be enforced by Lincoln in areas under control of the secessionist Confederates. But the president made clear from that day forward that his forces would be fighting to bring the Union back together without the institution of slavery. It led to the 13th and 15th Amendments, which outlawed slavery, and granted blacks American citizenship, respectively.
Lincoln issued his preliminary Emancipation Proclamation in September 1862, after the Battle of Antietam, announcing that if rebel states did not cease fighting and rejoin the Union by January 1, 1863, all slaves in rebellious states or parts of states would be declared free from that date forward.
This year, the Watch Night tradition will follow the historic document to its home at the National Archives with a special midnight display planned with readings, songs and bell ringing among the nation’s founding documents.
The official document bears Lincoln’s signature and the United States seal, setting it apart from copies and drafts. It will make a rare public appearance from today, Sunday, to Tuesday — New Year’s Day — for thousands of visitors to mark its anniversary. On New Year’s Eve, the display will remain open past midnight.
“We will be calling back to an old tradition,” said US Archivist David Ferriero, noting the proclamation’s legacy. “When you see thousands of people waiting in line in the dark and cold … we know that they’re not there just for words on paper.
“On this 150th anniversary, we recall those who struggled with slavery in this country, the hope that sustained them and the inspiration the Emancipation Proclamation has given to those who seek justice.”
The National Archives allows 100 visitors at a time into its rotunda, where the Emancipation Proclamation will be displayed along with the Constitution and Declaration of Independence. On the busiest days, 8,000 people file through for a glimpse of the founding charters.
Performances and re-enactments are scheduled to continue throughout New Year’s Day. The US Postal Service will unveil a new Emancipation Proclamation stamp as well.
This special display is just one of many commemorations planned in Washington and in churches nationwide to mark the anniversary of Lincoln’s actions to end slavery and the Civil War.
President Lincoln’s Cottage in Washington, where the 16th president spent much of his time and where he began drafting the proclamation, is displaying a signed copy of the document through February. It also will host its own New Year’s Eve celebration.
The Library of Congress will display the first draft handwritten by Lincoln. It will be on display for six weeks beginning January 3 in the library’s exhibit, “The Civil War in America”, which features many personal letters and diaries from the era.
The Watch Night tradition also continues at many sites Monday night. In Washington, the Metropolitan AME Church, where abolitionist Frederick Douglass was a member, will host a special 150th anniversary service.
James Russell Lowell wrote these words in his poem The Present Crisis in 1844.”Careless seems the great Avenger; history’s pages but record one death grapple in the darkness ‘twixt old systems and the Word; Truth forever on the scaffold, Wrong forever on the throne, yet that scaffold sways the future, and, behind the dim unknown, standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above His own.”
