The Emancipation Proclamation: "A Poor Document, But a Mighty Act"

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As we celebrate the "mighty act" of Emancipation Proclamation, signed this day one hundred fifty years ago, why is it, as Professor Eric Foner notes, "the most misunderstood of the documents that have shaped American history?"




(See Foner's opinion column in the NYTimes: "The Emancipation of Abe Lincoln.")