The Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation

Edward Wilton

PAF 9199

Rhetorical Criticism Dr. Martin Luther King Park Sheraton 1962 Speech

September 12th, 1962

History

On a September 12th 1962, a Wednesday Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. addressed members of the New York Civil War Centennial Commission at the Park Sheraton Hotel in New York City. The event was a dinner celebration hosted by the commission to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the President Abraham Lincoln’s Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. Notable members of the audience where New York State’s 49thGovernor Nelson Rockefeller and Cardinal Joseph Spellman the then Archbishop of New York. Both of these individuals were addressed by King in the recording during opening of his speech.

For 49 years this recording sat and the basement of a sound engineer from 1962-1979 andin storage in a New York State archive in Albany from 1979-2013.In the fall of 2013 an intern tasked with digitizing aging media at the archive uncovered the recording. The idea that the speech had not been heard for 49 years and had notbeen systematically analyzed like many of king speeches, provided modern civil rights activist, historians, politicians and even students of rhetoric a fresh view of Doctor King and what his message was and possible as not. During the course of the 26 minute long speech, the themes and beliefs that Dr. King is knownaround the world for are as present as they are in his famous “I have a Dream” speech. However the delivery style and elevated speech pattern are not as grandiose King is sometimes knows for. The intimate societal dinner would not have suited the style he is known for, and in its stead he adopted more of a lecturer’s affect more than a ministers. In addition unlike those good folks who joined him on the Lincoln Memorial a year later, he was an invited speaker and this audience was not his flock. I will go into more of my thoughts on setting and tone later in the paper.

The Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation

Perhaps emboldened by the victory at Antietam a week earlier Abraham Lincolnissued a Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation on September 22nd 1862.This was approximately 3 months prior to the more widely known Final Emancipation Proclamation which was issued on January 1st, 1863. The purpose of this document was to notify the Confederate States that if they did not return to the Union by that date the slaves within those states would be granted their freedom[1] . This is a more pragmatic and a much less romantic and definitive image of how we perceive the Final Emancipation Proclamation today.

"That the Executive will, on the first day of January aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the States and parts of States, if any, in which the people thereof, respectively, shall then be in rebellion against the United States; and the fact that any State, or the people thereof, shall on that day be, in good faith, represented in the Congress of the United States by members chosen thereto at elections wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such State shall have participated, shall, in the absence of strong countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such State, and the people thereof, are not then in rebellion against the United States." – Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation Abraham Lincoln September 22nd, 1962

Intro As with all speeches of this sort, Doctor King opened up with a series of platitudes towards the audience recognizing the dignitaries in attendance. He keeps this short and gets right to the main message of his speech quickly, but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the following bit of pandering, which every student of rhetoric will need to use at some point or another.

“I need no pause to say how very delighted I am to be here this evening and to be part of the auspicious occasion”

He need not, but he did, and so do many others including myself.

Declaration of Independence’s Offspring - Past

In addition to Dr. Kings deeply spiritually beliefs, he was also a true patriot and in his speech this night he continues to express those sentiments. To his core he believed in the ideals set by the Declaration of Independence and the Emancipation Proclamation and that the latter was the natural byproduct of the former to overcome its shortfalls when it came to the matter universal freedom. He stated that no matter what eventuality might occur those two documents were so powerful and so important that the truths they asserted could never be erased from our society, as if a door had been opened that could never be shut. This isan extremely powerful statement of belief, especially considering that to many of the time they thought these documents were perfect and American was the “Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave”, which King would later debunk.

In a style I found initially reminiscent of Candidate Lincoln’s address at the Cooper Union, Doctor King draws similar parallels to the in justice of slavery and contradictory levels of civil rights awarded to African Americans of the time vs the Declaration of Independence and the Emancipation Proclamation. Including a comparable portion about how the founder’s intentions were to see all men being awarded equal rights and how their decision to not condemn slavery out right in the Declaration of Independence weighed heavy on the founding fathers and the constitutional framers. In particular he mentions Jefferson’s lament over not condemning King George for his prorogation of the colonial era slave trade during the drafting of the Declaration of Independence, to avoiddisenfranchising a powerful faction within the colonieswhose lively hoods depended on a slave based economy.

The South Present (1962)

Michael King or as we today know him Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr was born on January 15th 1929 in Atlanta Georgia. Dr. King knew firsthand how the southern states of America felt about all men being created equal in spite of our most cherished documents proclaimingotherwise.He very clearly stated that the Southern States of the United States had been the leading force in African American oppression in the United Stated going as far back as colonial days.

This oppressive nature was not different in 1962 and in a spirit that was not nearly as unifying as he is remembered for particularly in contrast to the “I have A Dream” speech calls out the southern states for their oppressive practices even in 1962.

King, “Todays that single region of our country still holds a veto power over the majority of the nation, nullifying basic constitutional rights, and in the exercise of illegal conduct, retarding our growth.”

The poor civil rights conditions of African Americans in the south in King’s mind contaminated the nation as a whole. Dr. King then would use metrics to quantify the diminished state of African American society through status indicators such as family average income, social separation from mainstream culture, a diminutive middle class and lack of diversity in employment opportunities.

He then points out to the audience something that I can imagine made many of them uncomfortable. He discussed that in the previous weeks to this speech three black churches had been burned, but if something similar happened in Washington the “perpetrators” would be apprehended immediately leveraging all our government’s influence.

Dr. King then does something which I feel would be more well received in modern times where/when the examination of such factors effect on a person’s mental health are better understood. He discusses how he believes African Americans have allowed themselves to believe that they are of a lower status based on the social structures that are holding them back. Today there are whole fields of psychology dedicated to the effects of these kinds of conditions on an individual and an individual’s sense of self.

“Inferiority as a fetter is a more subtle and sophisticated that iron chains; it is invisible and its victims helps to fashion his own chains.”

Four Results Past Return to Past

King had decided to point out that the Emancipation Proclamations (meaning the final not the initial) although not being properly implemented but American society was not a total lose. There were four key aspects of society that changed because of that. First it gave the President the ability to change conditions on a national level, second, it destroyed the slave system, third it gave African Americans the ability to play a role in their future and fourth it finally brought to fruition the true meaning of the words contained in the Declaration of Independence.

How to Commemorate the Emancipation Proclamation Present - Future

Dr. King states.,” And there is but one way to commemorate the Emancipation Proclamation, and that is to make its declaration of freedom real.” The 1960s was a time of radical change around the world and the concept of human rights wereregularly being brought to the world stage.

Dr. King then takes an interesting tact alluding to the idea that countries not caught up in the East West conflict of the cold war are seeing the hypocrisy of the United States’ schizophrenic implementation of our own guiding principles,were deterring these independent nations from picking sides during. This is a real critical period during the cold war and a very powerful message about how the United States could be perceived by other nations, particularly those who were not “white”. The underlying message of how can you expect people to join us if you treat our own people like this.

He makes a very good point that in a jet speed world the US in still in a horse and buggy when it comes to true equality andthen drives the point home with by alluding to the civil rights violations of the then recent history in Little Rock, Arkansas and Albany, Georgia. We had all the technology in the world if we just showed that same level of dedication to advancement to freedom and equality we would honored the intentions of the Declaration of Independence and the Emancipation Proclamation.

Arrangement

Much like the I had a Dream speech Dr. King arranged it to take the audience from the past, to the preset to the future (chronological). Showing the audience a vision of the past and what the intentions of the writers of the Declaration of Independence and the Emancipation Proclamation were. What they really had intended for those two documents, and what the actual result of those two documents were. Illustrating how powerful they were and how they were not being honored, and how to correct this problem.

He begins with some very powerful statements about how those two documents will be the legacy of the United States. This a very good way of unifying the audience that night through the power of the civil religion formed around the idea of American Freedom through the constant invocation of the Declaration of Independence and the Emancipation Proclamation. Then using that same power to show how the audience how the United States was not practicing the faith of this civil religion and what must be done to return to it.

However his vision of the future is not as optimistic as it is in some of his other speeches. He has adopted a much more earnest/melancholy approach to the future. Not really point out any dreams or ideals, just putting it in the realistic and grounded terms of, the rest of the world is doing x, we are doing y, first of it is immoral and second it makes us look bad.

Setting and its Impact on Delivery, Language and Agenda Setting

In my research of this speech I learned that Doctor King originally had not intended to give it due to a schedule conflict. After the promise of aid towards the rebuilding of the three previously mentioned African American Churches burned in Georgia, by Governor Rockefeller King was persuaded to give the speech. An important thing to remember is that this is Governor Nelson Rockefeller making King and offer that he couldn’t refuse turn down. How poorly would he be received if he said no to one of the richest men in the world offering aide, when all he had to do was given a little speech.

Frankly, after reviewing the text of the Initial Emancipation Proclamation I would be hard pressed to think King would really want to commemorate that particular document, and why I don’t think he discreetly mentions the Initial Proclamation at any point, just the author and what I believe he means to be the Final Emancipation Proclamation.

This particular documentbasically said that if the Confederate States rejoined the union they could keep their slave based systems. Lincoln hadformally stated in an effort to preserve the union if they come back now they could keeptheir slaves, otherwise we will shut down slavery in your state. Which of course, the United States wouldn’t be able to do without re-acquiring the confederate state in question, most likely though war. This is not really the sort of document I can see King supporting and especially not in front of an audience of Manhattan Socialites. It illustrates Lincolns need to to balance preservation of the Union with his moral belief that slavery was immoral. (which it was). He was essentially using the slave population of the confederate states as bargaining chips.

King States,” When Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation it was not the act of an opportunistic politician issuing a hollow pronouncement to placate a pressure group”. Which yes the Emancipation Proclamation was absolutely his acting on his moral beliefs, but the Initial Emancipation Proclamation absolutely was Lincoln’s attempt to preserve the union at the costs of the freedom of those slaves in the particular confederate state. King then says “Lincoln’s torments are well known, his vacillations were facts”.

I think the setting impacted King’s delivery leading him more toward the role of a lecturer and less from the pastoral leadership of his flock which he is so well known for. These were not his flock; these individuals did not share his belief and probably couldn’t relate to the experiences of an African American Baptist Minister who was raised in the Jim Crow South. I think he challenged them with concepts that people probably didn’t want to hear especially at a fancy dinner and I wonder if this was in fact why this speech went so long without being heard.

I do not think he was out right being aggressive to the audience but I think he wasn’t going to just shower everybody with optimism. This was a dinner with Nelson Rockefeller and the Arch Bishop of New York; these were the sort of people that could have an impact on the course the nation took. So leading them to see how wrong things have gone and informing them about why it’s still like this and then telling them what needs to change may not have been what they wanted to hear but it is what they needed to hear. Letting everyone think that everything is just grand and thank you for winning the war and giving my people our freedom even though the document we are commemorating tonight kind of said you would not have freed some of us if it avoided war.

Conclusion

Although probably a more cynical interpretation of a King speech then the usual Grad School Student I can’t help to think that the nature of the speech, the particular event, the audience in question and the “persuasion” used to get him to speak affected it’s; tone and message.

[1]Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. (n.d.). Retrieved January 23, 2016, from