"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, 1/6 testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. 2/6

US House of Representatives passed Civil Rights Bill of 1875 on 2/4/1875. Speaking in support of the bill that day was Rep. James Garfield of Ohio: "The warnings uttered today are not new. During the last twelve years it has often been rung in our ears that by doing justice 1/8 to the Negro we shall pull down the pillars of our political temple and bury ourselves in its ruins. I remember well when it was proposed to put arms in the hands of the black man to help us in the field. I remember in the Army of the Cumberland 2/8

#OnThisDay in 1863, Frederick Douglass spoke at The Cooper Institute in New York City. He addressed the Emancipation Proclamation, issued by President Lincoln about 5 weeks before: "I congratulate you, upon what may be called the greatest event of our nation’s history... 1/7 (issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation), if not the greatest event of the century… In the hurry and excitement of the moment, it is difficult to grasp the full and complete significance of President Lincoln’s proclamation. 2/7