Watch Nights mark Emancipation Proclamation 150th WASHINGTON —
As New Year's Day approached 150 years ago, all eyes were on
President Abraham Lincoln in expectation of what he warned 100
days earlier would be coming — his final proclamation declaring
all slaves in states rebelling against the Union to be "forever
free." A tradition began Dec. 31, 1862, as many black churches
held Watch Night services, awaiting word that Lincoln's
Emancipation Proclamation would take effect amid a bloody Civil
War. Later, congregations listened as the president's historic
words were read aloud. The proclamation would not end slavery
outright and at the time couldn't be enforced by Lincoln in
areas under Confederate control. 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.
Lincoln issued his preliminary Emancipation Proclamation in
September 1862, after the Battle of Antietam, announcing that if
rebel states did not cease fi