新SAT 阅读必考建国纲领之《伯明翰狱中来信》
《伯明翰狱中来信》中英双语版节选
作者：马丁. 路德. 金
我们这一代人终将感动悔恨，不仅因为坏人可憎的言行，更因为好人可怕的沉默！
MY DEAR FELLOW CLERGYMEN:
While confined here in the Birmingham city jail, I came across your recent statement calling my present activities "unwise and untimely." Seldom do I pause to answer criticism of my work and ideas. If I sought to answer all the criticisms that cross my desk, my secretaries would have little time for anything other than such correspondence in the course of the day, and I would have no time for constructive work. But since I feel that you are men of genuine good will and that your criticisms are sincerely set forth, I want to try to answer your statements in what I hope will be patient and reasonable terms.
In your statement you assert that our actions, even though peaceful, must be condemned because they precipitate violence. But is this a logical assertion? Isn't this like condemning a robbed man because his possession of money precipitated the evil act of robbery? Isn't this like condemning Socrates because his unswerving
commitment to truth and his philosophical inquiries precipitated the act by the misguided populace in which they made him drink hemlock? Isn't this like condemning Jesus because his unique God-consciousness and never-ceasing devotion to God's will precipitated the evil act of crucifixion? We must come to see that, as the federal courts have consistently affirmed, it is wrong to urge an individual to cease his efforts to gain his basic constitutional rights because the quest may precipitate violence. Society must protect the robbed and punish the robber.
I had also hoped that the white moderate would reject the myth concerning time in relation to the struggle for freedom. I have just received a letter from a white brother in Texas. He writes: "A Christians know that the colored people will receive equal rights eventually, but it is possible that you are in too great a religious hurry. It has taken Christianity almost two thousand years to accomplish what it has. The teachings of Christ take time to come to earth." Such an attitude stems from a tragic misconception of time, from the strangely rational notion that there is something in the very flow of time that will inevitably cure all ills. Actually, time itself is neutral; it can be used either destructively or constructively. More and more I feel that the people of ill will have used time much more effectively than have the people of good will. We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people. Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the
tireless efforts of men willing to be coworkers with God, and without this 'hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation. We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right. Now is the time to make real the promise of democracy and transform our pending national elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood. Now is the time to lift our national policy from the quicksand of racial injustice to 6e solid rock of human dignity.
I hope the church as a whole will meet the challenge of this decisive hour. But even if the church does not come to the aid of justice, I have no despair about the future. I have no fear about the outcome of our struggle in Birmingham, even if our motives are at present misunderstood. We will reach the goal of freedom in Birmingham, ham and all over the nation, because the goal of America is freedom. Abused and scorned though we may be, our destiny is tied up with America's destiny. Before the pilgrims landed at Plymouth, we were here. Before the pen of Jefferson etched the majestic words of the Declaration of Independence across the pages of history, we were here. For more than two centuries our forebears labored in this country without wages; they made cottonking ; they built the homes of their masters while suffering gross injustice and shameful humiliation-and yet out of a bottomless vitality they continued to thrive and develop. If the inexpressible cruelties of slavery could not stop us, the opposition we now face will surely fail. We will win our freedom because the sacred heritage of our nation and the eternal will of God are embodied in our echoing demands.
Before closing I feel impelled to mention one other point in your statement that has troubled me profoundly. You warmly commended the Birmingham police force for keeping "order" and "preventing violence." I doubt that you would have so warmly commended the police force if you had seen its dogs sinking their teeth into unarmed, nonviolent Negroes. I doubt that you would so quickly commend the policemen if you were to observe their ugly and inhumane treatment of Negroes here in the city jail; if you were to watch them push and curse old Negro women and young Negro girls; if you were to see them slap and kick old Negro men and young boys; if you were to observe them, as they did on two occasions, refuse to give us food because we wanted to sing our grace together. I cannot join you in your praise of the Birmingham police department.
It is true that the police have exercised a degree of discipline in handing the demonstrators. In this sense they have conducted themselves rather "nonviolently" in public. But for what purpose? To preserve the evil system of segregation. Over the past few years I have consistently preached that nonviolence demands that the means we use must be as pure as the ends we seek. I have tried to make clear that it is wrong to use immoral means to attain moral ends. But now I must affirm that it is just as wrong, or perhaps even more so, to use moral means to preserve immoral ends. Perhaps Mr. Connor and his policemen have been rather nonviolent in public, as was Chief Pritchett in Albany, Georgia but they have used the moral
means of nonviolence to maintain the immoral end of racial injustice. As T. S. Eliot has said: "The last temptation is the greatesttreason: To do the right deed for the wrong reason."
I wish you had commended the Negro sit-inners and demonstrators of Birmingham for their sublime courage, their willingness to suffer and their amazing discipline in the midst of great provocation. One day the South will recognize its real heroes. They will be the James Merediths, with the noble sense of purpose that enables them to face Jeering, and hostile mobs, and with the agonizing loneliness that characterizes the life of the pioneer. They will be old, oppressed, battered Negro women, symbolized in a seventy-two-year-old woman in Montgomery, Alabama, who rose up with a sense of dignity and with her people decided not to ride segregated buses, and who responded with ungrammatical profundity to one who inquired about her weariness: "My fleets is tired,but my soul is at rest." They will be the young high school and college students, the young ministers of the gospel and a host of their elders, courageously and nonviolently sitting in at lunch counters and willingly going to jail for conscience' sake. One day the South will know that when these disinherited children of God sat down at lunch counters, they were in reality standing up for what is best in the American dream and for the most sacred values in our Judaeo-Christian heritage, thereby bringing our nation back to those great wells of democracy which were dug deep by the founding fathers in their formulation of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.
Never before have I written so long a letter. I'm afraid it is much too long to take your precious time. I can assure you that it would have been much shorter if I had been writing from a comfortable desk, but what else can one do when he kalone in a narrow jail cell, other than write long letters, think long thought sand pray long prayers?
If I have said anything in this letter that overstates the truth and indicates an unreasonable impatience, I beg you to forgive me. If I have said anything that understates the truth and indicates my having a patience that allows me to settle for anything less than brotherhood, I beg God to forgive me.
I hope this letter finds you strong in the faith. I also hope that circumstances will soon make it possible for me to meet each of you, not as an integration is to a civil rights leader but as a fellow clergy man and a Christian brother. Letus all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away andthe deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear-drenched communities, and in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty.
Yours for the cause of Peace and Brotherhood,
Martin Luther King, Jr.
亲爱的牧师同工们：
我在伯明翰市的监狱里阅读了你们最近的声明，该声明把我们当前的活动称为“不明智且不合时宜的”。我鲜少停下来去回应那些对我工作和信念的批评。如果我回应办公桌上的所有批评的信件，那么我的秘书们除了回信将没有时间做其他事，而我也没时间从事更有意义的工作。但我感觉到你们是有正直品质的人，你们的批评也是真心提出的，因此我会尽力耐心和详细地回答你们的问题。
在来信中，你们坚持认为即使我们的行动是以和平方式进行的，也要受到谴责，因为它们会促成暴力。可是这合乎逻辑推理吗？难道你能去批评被抢的人由于他的金钱而滋生了抢劫吗？难道你能去批评苏格拉底，因为他对真理和哲学执着的追求而造成了被误导的平民逼他喝下毒药吗？难道耶稣是因为他信奉的上帝意识和对传播上帝的旨意永不停息的奉献造成了他的磨难吗？我们应该看到，正如联邦法院一贯声称的那样，因为人们追求宪法赋予的基本权利的过程中会出现暴力行为而煽动人们放弃是错误的。国家必须保护被抢的人以及惩罚抢劫犯。
同时，我希望白人温和派可以抛弃关于时间与为自由而战的关系的误解。我曾收到一封发自得克萨斯州白人兄弟的信。他在信中写到：“所有的基督徒都知道黑人最终将获得平等的权利，但你们在信仰上可能太冒进了。基督教花了将进两千年才实现目标。基督的教诲同样花
了很长时间才传到人类中来。”这种观点是源于对时间错误的了解，是源于国内奇怪的观念，认为时间总会治愈一切伤痕。事实上，时间本身是公平的；它可以毁灭一切，也可以建设一切。我越来越感觉到恶人比善人在运用时间方面更有效率。我们不能不对这个时代感到痛心，不仅是因为坏人的恶语劣行，还有好人可怕的沉默。决不能依靠必然性车轮的滚动来实现人类进步；它是通过与上帝合作的人孜孜不倦地工作换来的，如果没有这种艰苦的工作，时间本身将成为惰性力量的同谋。我们必须积极地运用时间，因为做对的事无论何时都是合适的。现在是实现真正民主承诺的时机，而且也是把即将发生在我们国家的挽歌变成高唱兄弟情谊赞歌的时机。现在正是把我们国家政策从种族不平等的流沙转向相互尊重的坚硬的岩石上的时机。
我想所有的教会都会面临这么个重要的挑战。但即便教会不援助正义，我对未来也不会绝望。即使我们的动机目前仍被误解，对于我们在伯明翰斗争的结果我也不担心。我们将在伯明翰和全美国达到自由的目标，因为美国的目标就是自由。虽然我们有可能被辱骂、被嘲笑，我们的命运与美国的命运紧紧地结合在一起了。在清教徒到达普里茅斯之前，我们就已经在这里了。在杰弗逊写下庄严的《独立宣言》响彻历史之前，我们就在这里了。我们的祖先们已经在这个国家无偿劳动超过了两个世纪；他们使美国成为了棉花大国；他们在建造主人的房屋时遭受了明显的不平等待遇及不堪回首的屈辱。他们以无穷的活力不断地创造繁荣和进步。如果连奴隶制难以形容的残暴都不能阻止我们，那现在我们面对的对手将注定失败。我们终将赢得自由，因为我们的要求体现了我们国家神圣的遗产和上帝永恒的意志。
在结束前我有必要提一提困扰我多日的在你们信中的另一个观点。你们竟热情地称赞伯明翰警察在维持秩序和阻止暴力方面的贡献。我怀疑如果你们看到警犬攻击那些手无寸铁无辜的
黑人群众；看到黑人在城市监狱里受到非人待遇；看到那些警察推倒和辱骂黑人老妪及黑人幼孩；看到他们拒绝给我们提供食物是因为我们想进行餐前谢恩祈祷；看到他们殴打黑人老人和年轻小伙子时，是否还会表扬他们。所以我实在无法苟同你们赞扬伯明翰的警察。
警察在逮捕示威者时使用了暴力。但他们却要在公众面前标榜他们是“非暴力”的。目的何在呢？是为了保护种族隔离这个邪恶的体系。在过去几年中，我一直声明，非暴力要求我们使用的方式必须和我们追求的结果一样纯洁。我试图让人们明白，运用不道德手段来达到道德的目的是错误的。现在我必须指出用道德的手段保护不道德的目的更是错误的。或许康纳先生和他的警察下属在公众面前表现得是非暴力的，如乔治亚州奥尔巴尼市的警察局长普利切特表现的那样。然而他们正是在用非暴力这种正义手段去保护种族不平等非正义的结果。正像T.S. 艾略特说的：“最后的诱惑是最大的背叛：为坏的理由做好事。”
我希望你们能称赞伯明翰黑人静坐者和游行者的非凡勇气。总有一天，南方会认识到谁是真正的英雄。他们将是詹姆斯˙梅雷迪思们，以极大的勇气和坚定的意志面对暴徒的嘲笑和敌视，面对令人痛苦的孤独，而这些正是先驱者的特点。他们将是年迈而饱受压迫欺凌的黑人妇女，以亚拉巴马州蒙哥马利市一位72岁的老妪为典型。她怀着自尊感与决心不乘坐实行隔离的公共汽车的黑人同胞们一起站立，对询问她是否疲倦的人作了语法不规范但却颇有深度的回答：“我的脚很累，但我的心是安宁的。”他们将是年轻的大中学的学生、年轻的福音传教牧师和大批年长者，勇敢而又和平地在便餐柜台静坐抗议，为了问心无愧而宁愿坐牢。总有一天，南方会明白，当这些被剥夺继承权的上帝的孩子们在便餐柜台坐下时，他们实际上是为实现美国梦的最佳理想，为犹太-基督教传统中最神圣的准则挺身而出，从而把整个国家带回到民主的伟大源泉，那里有建国的先辈们在拟订《宪法》和《独立宣言》时所开掘
的深深的源泉。
我从未写过这么长的信，我担心它太长会耽误你们宝贵的时间。我可以向你们保证，假如给我一张舒适点的桌子，我会把信写得更简短些。但当一个人被孤单地关在一间小牢房里，他除了写长信，思考和做更多的祈祷外，还能做什么呢？
如果在信中我夸大了事实和显露了无理的焦躁，请你们原谅。如果我说了什么不符真相和有损兄弟情谊的话语，我请求上帝的原谅。
希望这封信能使你们坚定信念。我也希望自己可以很快与你们每一位见面，不以一个主张取消种族隔离的人或一位民权运动的领袖身份，而是作为一个牧师和基督教兄弟的身份。让我们共同期盼种族偏见的乌云很快散开，误解的浓雾从我们不安定的社区消散；让我们期盼在不远的明天，博爱和兄弟情谊的灿烂星辰将以美丽的光华照亮我们伟大的国家。
为和平和博爱事业奋斗的
马丁•路德•金
新SAT 阅读必考建国纲领之《林肯第二次就职演说》
Second Inaugural Address
By Abraham Lincoln
Fellow - Countrymen:
At this second appearing to take the oath of the presidential office there is less occasion for an extended address than there was at the first.
Then a statement somewhat in detail of a course to be pursued seemed fitting and proper.
Now, at the expiration of four years, during which public declarations have been constantly called forth on every point and phase of his great contest which still absorbs the attention and engrosses the energies of the nation, little that is new could be presented.
The progress of our arms, upon which all else chiefly depends, is as well known to the publicas to myself, and it is, I trust, reasonably satisfactory and encouraging toall. With high hope for the future, no prediction in regard to it is ventured.
On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago all thoughts were anxiously
directed to an impending civil war. All dreaded it; all sought to avert it. While the inaugural address was being delivered from this place, devoted altogether to saving teing delivered from this urgent agents were in the city seeking to destroy it without war-seeking to dissolve the Union and divide effects by negotiation.
Both parties deprecated war, but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than let it perish, and the war came. One-eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed generally over the Union, but localized in the southern part of it. Their slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest.
All knew that this interest was somehow the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents would rend the Union even by war, while the Government claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it.
Neither party expected for the war the magnitude or the duration, which it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease with or even before the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other.
It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in
wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces, but let us judge not, that we be not judged. That of neither has been answered fully.
The Almighty has His own purposes. "Woe unto the world because of offenses; for it must need be that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comet."
If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern there in any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to Him?
Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away? Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago so still it must be said "The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether."
With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives
us to see the might, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.
林肯第二次就职演说
同胞们：
在第二次宣誓就职总统的时候，我不必像第一次那样作长篇演讲了。
第一次就职典礼上，较为详尽地叙述我们要采取的方针和道路，看来是合适与恰当的。
现在，在我的四年任期结束之时，有关这场至今仍为举国瞩目与致力的大斗争的每个方面，时时有公开的宣告，因此没有新的内容向各位奉告了。我们的一切都依靠武装力量，这方面的进展，大家知道得和我一样清楚。
我相信，大家对此颇感满意和鼓舞。我们对未来抱有很大希望，在军事方面就勿庸多作预测。
四年前我初次就职之际，全国思虑都集中在即将爆发的内战之上。大家对内战都怀有恐惧，都设法避免这场内战的发生。当时我在这个讲坛上发表的就职演说，全部内容就是为了不战而拯救联邦。当时城里的叛逆分子却企图不用战争而摧毁联邦，企图通过谈判来瓦解联邦，瓜分国家所有。双方都反对战争，但其中一方却宁愿战争也不愿联邦毁灭，于是内战爆发。
我国黑奴占人口八分之一，他们不是普遍分布于全国各地，而是集中在南部。这些黑奴，构成一种特殊而重要的利益。尽人皆知，这种利益迟早会成为战争的起因。
叛逆分子不惜发动战争分裂联邦，以达到增大、扩展这种利益、使之永存的目的，政府却除去要求将奴隶制限于原来区域，不使扩大之外，不要求其他任何权利，双方都不曾预料到战争会有这样大的规模，持续这样久，不曾预料到引起冲突的原因在冲突停止前会消失。双方都寻求轻而易举的胜利，不求彻底或惊人的结果。双方信奉同一宗教。敬拜同一上帝，都诉求上帝帮助战胜对方。
说来奇怪，竟有人敢于要求公正的上帝帮助自己去榨取别人的血汗；但我们不要去品评他人吧，以免受到别人的评论。双方的祈求都不应得到满足，也没有任何一方得到完全的满足，因为全能的上帝自有主张。“祸哉斯世，以其陷入故也，夫陷人于罪，事所必有，但陷人祸矣。”
如果我们把美国的奴隶制当成是上帝必定要降给我们的灾祸，这灾祸已经到了上帝指定期限，他现在要免去这场灾祸了。他把这场可怕的战争降给南北双方，是要惩罚那些带来灾祸的人。笃信耶稣基督的人常把许多美德归于基督，我们难道可以说基督的这些作为，与他的美德相悖吗？
我们满怀希望，我们热诚祈祷，愿这场惩罚我们的战争早日过去；但假若天意要这场战争延续下去，直至二百五十年来利用奴隶无偿劳动辛苦积聚下来的财富销毁净尽，直至奴隶在皮
鞭下流淌的鲜血用刀剑下的鲜血来偿清，如同三千年前古语所说的那样，我们仍然要称颂上帝的判决是公允合理的。
我们对任何人不怀恶意，对所有人都抱有善心，对上帝使我们认识到的正义无限坚定。让我们努力完成我们正在进行的工作，愈合国家的战争伤痕，关怀战死的烈士及其遗属，尽一切力量争得并维护我国及全世界的正义的、持久的和平。
新SAT 阅读必考建国纲领之《解放黑人奴隶宣言》
美国《解放黑人奴隶宣言》（1862年）
阿佰拉罕·林肯
有鉴于1862年9月22日，联邦总统已经公布了一项宣言，包含如下内容，即：
自公元1863年1月1日起，任何一州内指定地区要是仍有蓄有奴隶，当地人们将视为反叛合众国政府。一切被蓄为奴的人应该获得自由，并永享自由。合众国政府，包括陆海军当局，承认并维护上述人员之自由。对于此种人或其中任何一人为争取自由而作努力，不采取任何压制行动。
从上述的1月1日起，总统将认定并宣布那些为反叛合众国政府的州或州内地区。其他各州及当地人人民如于该日确有由该州多数合格选民选出的代表真诚地参加合众国国会，倘物其他有力之反证，该州及其人民将被确认为不反叛合众国政府。因此，我，合众国总统阿佰拉罕·林肯，际此合众国政府及其权威受到武装叛乱反对时期，依据合众国政陆海军总司令
职权，为剿灭上述叛乱而采取适当与必须的军事手段，在此公元1863年1月1日，于上次为此目的而发表之宣言满一百日之际，正式宣布并认定下列各州、州内地区及其人民反叛合众国政府，即，阿肯色州、德克萨斯州、路易斯安那州（以下除外：”圣佰纳、帕拉奎明斯、杰弗逊、圣约翰、圣查理士、圣詹姆士、阿克森、阿森姆逊、特里本、拉孚切、圣玛丽、圣马丁和奥尔良各教区、新奥尔良市）、密西西比州、亚拉巴马洲、弗罗里达州、佐治亚洲、南卡罗来纳州、北卡罗来纳州及弗吉尼亚洲（除指定为西弗吉尼亚的四十八个县及其柏克莱、阿康马克、诺斯汉姆顿、伊丽萨白市、约克、安公主与诺福克，包括诺福克市及朴茨茅斯市）。明确规定，对上述除外的各地区目前保持本宣言公布之原状。
根据上述目的及我有之权力，我正式命令并宣布，在上述指明的各州及州内地区，所有被蓄为了奴隶的人，从现在起。获得自由。并永享自由，合众国政府，包括其陆海军当局，承认及维护上述人员之自由。
我在此责成上述宣告获得自由之人员，除必须之自卫，应该避免使用任何暴力；同时劝告他们，只要可能。在任何情况下都应该忠实工作，取得合理的薪金。
我还要宣布周知，上述人员如条件符合，可为了合众国征集入伍及警卫堡垒要塞、据点兵站及其他地方；亦可在各种军舰上服务。
我真诚地认为，这是一个正义的行动，此行动由于军事之必须，为宪法所认可。我要求人类判断此行动时预以谅解，请求全能上帝慈悲赐福。
The Emancipation Proclamation
Whereas, on the 22d day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, a proclamation was issued by the President of the United States, containing, among other things, the following, to wit:
"That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom.
"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 there to 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."
Now, therefore I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested as Commander-in-Chief, of the Army and Navy of the United States in time of actual armed rebellion against the authority and government of the United States, and as a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing said rebellion, do, on this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and in accordance with my purpose so to do publicly proclaimed for the full period of one hundred days, from the day first above mentioned, order and designate as the States and parts of States wherein the people thereof respectively, are this day in rebellion against the United States, the following, to wit:
Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana (except the Parishes of St. Bernard, Plaquemines, Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. James, Ascension, Assumption, Terrebonne, Lafourche, St. Mary, St. Martin, and Orleans, including the City of New Orleans), Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia (except the forty-eight counties designated as West Virginia, and also the counties of Berkeley, Accomack ,Northampton, Elizabeth City, York, Princess Anne, and Norfolk, including the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth), and which excepted parts, are for the present left precisely as if this proclamation were not issued.
And by virtue of the power, and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free; and that the Executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons.
And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free to abstain from all violence, unless in necessary self-defence; and I recommend to them that, in all cases when allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonable wages.
And I further declare and make known, that such persons of suitable condition, will be received into the armed service of the United States to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service.
And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind, and the gracious favor of Almighty God.
In witness whereof, I have here unto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the City of Washington, this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one
thousand eight hundred and sixty three,and of the Independence of the United States of America the eighty-seventh.
By the President: Abraham Lincoln
William H. Seward, Secretary of State.
新SAT 阅读必考建国纲领之《伯明翰狱中来信》
《伯明翰狱中来信》中英双语版节选
作者：马丁. 路德. 金
我们这一代人终将感动悔恨，不仅因为坏人可憎的言行，更因为好人可怕的沉默！
MY DEAR FELLOW CLERGYMEN:
While confined here in the Birmingham city jail, I came across your recent statement calling my present activities "unwise and untimely." Seldom do I pause to answer criticism of my work and ideas. If I sought to answer all the criticisms that cross my desk, my secretaries would have little time for anything other than such correspondence in the course of the day, and I would have no time for constructive work. But since I feel that you are men of genuine good will and that your criticisms are sincerely set forth, I want to try to answer your statements in what I hope will be patient and reasonable terms.
In your statement you assert that our actions, even though peaceful, must be condemned because they precipitate violence. But is this a logical assertion? Isn't this like condemning a robbed man because his possession of money precipitated the evil act of robbery? Isn't this like condemning Socrates because his unswerving
commitment to truth and his philosophical inquiries precipitated the act by the misguided populace in which they made him drink hemlock? Isn't this like condemning Jesus because his unique God-consciousness and never-ceasing devotion to God's will precipitated the evil act of crucifixion? We must come to see that, as the federal courts have consistently affirmed, it is wrong to urge an individual to cease his efforts to gain his basic constitutional rights because the quest may precipitate violence. Society must protect the robbed and punish the robber.
I had also hoped that the white moderate would reject the myth concerning time in relation to the struggle for freedom. I have just received a letter from a white brother in Texas. He writes: "A Christians know that the colored people will receive equal rights eventually, but it is possible that you are in too great a religious hurry. It has taken Christianity almost two thousand years to accomplish what it has. The teachings of Christ take time to come to earth." Such an attitude stems from a tragic misconception of time, from the strangely rational notion that there is something in the very flow of time that will inevitably cure all ills. Actually, time itself is neutral; it can be used either destructively or constructively. More and more I feel that the people of ill will have used time much more effectively than have the people of good will. We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people. Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the
tireless efforts of men willing to be coworkers with God, and without this 'hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation. We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right. Now is the time to make real the promise of democracy and transform our pending national elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood. Now is the time to lift our national policy from the quicksand of racial injustice to 6e solid rock of human dignity.
I hope the church as a whole will meet the challenge of this decisive hour. But even if the church does not come to the aid of justice, I have no despair about the future. I have no fear about the outcome of our struggle in Birmingham, even if our motives are at present misunderstood. We will reach the goal of freedom in Birmingham, ham and all over the nation, because the goal of America is freedom. Abused and scorned though we may be, our destiny is tied up with America's destiny. Before the pilgrims landed at Plymouth, we were here. Before the pen of Jefferson etched the majestic words of the Declaration of Independence across the pages of history, we were here. For more than two centuries our forebears labored in this country without wages; they made cottonking ; they built the homes of their masters while suffering gross injustice and shameful humiliation-and yet out of a bottomless vitality they continued to thrive and develop. If the inexpressible cruelties of slavery could not stop us, the opposition we now face will surely fail. We will win our freedom because the sacred heritage of our nation and the eternal will of God are embodied in our echoing demands.
Before closing I feel impelled to mention one other point in your statement that has troubled me profoundly. You warmly commended the Birmingham police force for keeping "order" and "preventing violence." I doubt that you would have so warmly commended the police force if you had seen its dogs sinking their teeth into unarmed, nonviolent Negroes. I doubt that you would so quickly commend the policemen if you were to observe their ugly and inhumane treatment of Negroes here in the city jail; if you were to watch them push and curse old Negro women and young Negro girls; if you were to see them slap and kick old Negro men and young boys; if you were to observe them, as they did on two occasions, refuse to give us food because we wanted to sing our grace together. I cannot join you in your praise of the Birmingham police department.
It is true that the police have exercised a degree of discipline in handing the demonstrators. In this sense they have conducted themselves rather "nonviolently" in public. But for what purpose? To preserve the evil system of segregation. Over the past few years I have consistently preached that nonviolence demands that the means we use must be as pure as the ends we seek. I have tried to make clear that it is wrong to use immoral means to attain moral ends. But now I must affirm that it is just as wrong, or perhaps even more so, to use moral means to preserve immoral ends. Perhaps Mr. Connor and his policemen have been rather nonviolent in public, as was Chief Pritchett in Albany, Georgia but they have used the moral
means of nonviolence to maintain the immoral end of racial injustice. As T. S. Eliot has said: "The last temptation is the greatesttreason: To do the right deed for the wrong reason."
I wish you had commended the Negro sit-inners and demonstrators of Birmingham for their sublime courage, their willingness to suffer and their amazing discipline in the midst of great provocation. One day the South will recognize its real heroes. They will be the James Merediths, with the noble sense of purpose that enables them to face Jeering, and hostile mobs, and with the agonizing loneliness that characterizes the life of the pioneer. They will be old, oppressed, battered Negro women, symbolized in a seventy-two-year-old woman in Montgomery, Alabama, who rose up with a sense of dignity and with her people decided not to ride segregated buses, and who responded with ungrammatical profundity to one who inquired about her weariness: "My fleets is tired,but my soul is at rest." They will be the young high school and college students, the young ministers of the gospel and a host of their elders, courageously and nonviolently sitting in at lunch counters and willingly going to jail for conscience' sake. One day the South will know that when these disinherited children of God sat down at lunch counters, they were in reality standing up for what is best in the American dream and for the most sacred values in our Judaeo-Christian heritage, thereby bringing our nation back to those great wells of democracy which were dug deep by the founding fathers in their formulation of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.
Never before have I written so long a letter. I'm afraid it is much too long to take your precious time. I can assure you that it would have been much shorter if I had been writing from a comfortable desk, but what else can one do when he kalone in a narrow jail cell, other than write long letters, think long thought sand pray long prayers?
If I have said anything in this letter that overstates the truth and indicates an unreasonable impatience, I beg you to forgive me. If I have said anything that understates the truth and indicates my having a patience that allows me to settle for anything less than brotherhood, I beg God to forgive me.
I hope this letter finds you strong in the faith. I also hope that circumstances will soon make it possible for me to meet each of you, not as an integration is to a civil rights leader but as a fellow clergy man and a Christian brother. Letus all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away andthe deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear-drenched communities, and in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty.
Yours for the cause of Peace and Brotherhood,
Martin Luther King, Jr.
亲爱的牧师同工们：
我在伯明翰市的监狱里阅读了你们最近的声明，该声明把我们当前的活动称为“不明智且不合时宜的”。我鲜少停下来去回应那些对我工作和信念的批评。如果我回应办公桌上的所有批评的信件，那么我的秘书们除了回信将没有时间做其他事，而我也没时间从事更有意义的工作。但我感觉到你们是有正直品质的人，你们的批评也是真心提出的，因此我会尽力耐心和详细地回答你们的问题。
在来信中，你们坚持认为即使我们的行动是以和平方式进行的，也要受到谴责，因为它们会促成暴力。可是这合乎逻辑推理吗？难道你能去批评被抢的人由于他的金钱而滋生了抢劫吗？难道你能去批评苏格拉底，因为他对真理和哲学执着的追求而造成了被误导的平民逼他喝下毒药吗？难道耶稣是因为他信奉的上帝意识和对传播上帝的旨意永不停息的奉献造成了他的磨难吗？我们应该看到，正如联邦法院一贯声称的那样，因为人们追求宪法赋予的基本权利的过程中会出现暴力行为而煽动人们放弃是错误的。国家必须保护被抢的人以及惩罚抢劫犯。
同时，我希望白人温和派可以抛弃关于时间与为自由而战的关系的误解。我曾收到一封发自得克萨斯州白人兄弟的信。他在信中写到：“所有的基督徒都知道黑人最终将获得平等的权利，但你们在信仰上可能太冒进了。基督教花了将进两千年才实现目标。基督的教诲同样花
了很长时间才传到人类中来。”这种观点是源于对时间错误的了解，是源于国内奇怪的观念，认为时间总会治愈一切伤痕。事实上，时间本身是公平的；它可以毁灭一切，也可以建设一切。我越来越感觉到恶人比善人在运用时间方面更有效率。我们不能不对这个时代感到痛心，不仅是因为坏人的恶语劣行，还有好人可怕的沉默。决不能依靠必然性车轮的滚动来实现人类进步；它是通过与上帝合作的人孜孜不倦地工作换来的，如果没有这种艰苦的工作，时间本身将成为惰性力量的同谋。我们必须积极地运用时间，因为做对的事无论何时都是合适的。现在是实现真正民主承诺的时机，而且也是把即将发生在我们国家的挽歌变成高唱兄弟情谊赞歌的时机。现在正是把我们国家政策从种族不平等的流沙转向相互尊重的坚硬的岩石上的时机。
我想所有的教会都会面临这么个重要的挑战。但即便教会不援助正义，我对未来也不会绝望。即使我们的动机目前仍被误解，对于我们在伯明翰斗争的结果我也不担心。我们将在伯明翰和全美国达到自由的目标，因为美国的目标就是自由。虽然我们有可能被辱骂、被嘲笑，我们的命运与美国的命运紧紧地结合在一起了。在清教徒到达普里茅斯之前，我们就已经在这里了。在杰弗逊写下庄严的《独立宣言》响彻历史之前，我们就在这里了。我们的祖先们已经在这个国家无偿劳动超过了两个世纪；他们使美国成为了棉花大国；他们在建造主人的房屋时遭受了明显的不平等待遇及不堪回首的屈辱。他们以无穷的活力不断地创造繁荣和进步。如果连奴隶制难以形容的残暴都不能阻止我们，那现在我们面对的对手将注定失败。我们终将赢得自由，因为我们的要求体现了我们国家神圣的遗产和上帝永恒的意志。
在结束前我有必要提一提困扰我多日的在你们信中的另一个观点。你们竟热情地称赞伯明翰警察在维持秩序和阻止暴力方面的贡献。我怀疑如果你们看到警犬攻击那些手无寸铁无辜的
黑人群众；看到黑人在城市监狱里受到非人待遇；看到那些警察推倒和辱骂黑人老妪及黑人幼孩；看到他们拒绝给我们提供食物是因为我们想进行餐前谢恩祈祷；看到他们殴打黑人老人和年轻小伙子时，是否还会表扬他们。所以我实在无法苟同你们赞扬伯明翰的警察。
警察在逮捕示威者时使用了暴力。但他们却要在公众面前标榜他们是“非暴力”的。目的何在呢？是为了保护种族隔离这个邪恶的体系。在过去几年中，我一直声明，非暴力要求我们使用的方式必须和我们追求的结果一样纯洁。我试图让人们明白，运用不道德手段来达到道德的目的是错误的。现在我必须指出用道德的手段保护不道德的目的更是错误的。或许康纳先生和他的警察下属在公众面前表现得是非暴力的，如乔治亚州奥尔巴尼市的警察局长普利切特表现的那样。然而他们正是在用非暴力这种正义手段去保护种族不平等非正义的结果。正像T.S. 艾略特说的：“最后的诱惑是最大的背叛：为坏的理由做好事。”
我希望你们能称赞伯明翰黑人静坐者和游行者的非凡勇气。总有一天，南方会认识到谁是真正的英雄。他们将是詹姆斯˙梅雷迪思们，以极大的勇气和坚定的意志面对暴徒的嘲笑和敌视，面对令人痛苦的孤独，而这些正是先驱者的特点。他们将是年迈而饱受压迫欺凌的黑人妇女，以亚拉巴马州蒙哥马利市一位72岁的老妪为典型。她怀着自尊感与决心不乘坐实行隔离的公共汽车的黑人同胞们一起站立，对询问她是否疲倦的人作了语法不规范但却颇有深度的回答：“我的脚很累，但我的心是安宁的。”他们将是年轻的大中学的学生、年轻的福音传教牧师和大批年长者，勇敢而又和平地在便餐柜台静坐抗议，为了问心无愧而宁愿坐牢。总有一天，南方会明白，当这些被剥夺继承权的上帝的孩子们在便餐柜台坐下时，他们实际上是为实现美国梦的最佳理想，为犹太-基督教传统中最神圣的准则挺身而出，从而把整个国家带回到民主的伟大源泉，那里有建国的先辈们在拟订《宪法》和《独立宣言》时所开掘
的深深的源泉。
我从未写过这么长的信，我担心它太长会耽误你们宝贵的时间。我可以向你们保证，假如给我一张舒适点的桌子，我会把信写得更简短些。但当一个人被孤单地关在一间小牢房里，他除了写长信，思考和做更多的祈祷外，还能做什么呢？
如果在信中我夸大了事实和显露了无理的焦躁，请你们原谅。如果我说了什么不符真相和有损兄弟情谊的话语，我请求上帝的原谅。
希望这封信能使你们坚定信念。我也希望自己可以很快与你们每一位见面，不以一个主张取消种族隔离的人或一位民权运动的领袖身份，而是作为一个牧师和基督教兄弟的身份。让我们共同期盼种族偏见的乌云很快散开，误解的浓雾从我们不安定的社区消散；让我们期盼在不远的明天，博爱和兄弟情谊的灿烂星辰将以美丽的光华照亮我们伟大的国家。
为和平和博爱事业奋斗的
马丁•路德•金
新SAT 阅读必考建国纲领之《林肯第二次就职演说》
Second Inaugural Address
By Abraham Lincoln
Fellow - Countrymen:
At this second appearing to take the oath of the presidential office there is less occasion for an extended address than there was at the first.
Then a statement somewhat in detail of a course to be pursued seemed fitting and proper.
Now, at the expiration of four years, during which public declarations have been constantly called forth on every point and phase of his great contest which still absorbs the attention and engrosses the energies of the nation, little that is new could be presented.
The progress of our arms, upon which all else chiefly depends, is as well known to the publicas to myself, and it is, I trust, reasonably satisfactory and encouraging toall. With high hope for the future, no prediction in regard to it is ventured.
On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago all thoughts were anxiously
directed to an impending civil war. All dreaded it; all sought to avert it. While the inaugural address was being delivered from this place, devoted altogether to saving teing delivered from this urgent agents were in the city seeking to destroy it without war-seeking to dissolve the Union and divide effects by negotiation.
Both parties deprecated war, but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than let it perish, and the war came. One-eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed generally over the Union, but localized in the southern part of it. Their slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest.
All knew that this interest was somehow the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents would rend the Union even by war, while the Government claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it.
Neither party expected for the war the magnitude or the duration, which it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease with or even before the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other.
It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in
wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces, but let us judge not, that we be not judged. That of neither has been answered fully.
The Almighty has His own purposes. "Woe unto the world because of offenses; for it must need be that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comet."
If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern there in any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to Him?
Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away? Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago so still it must be said "The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether."
With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives
us to see the might, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.
林肯第二次就职演说
同胞们：
在第二次宣誓就职总统的时候，我不必像第一次那样作长篇演讲了。
第一次就职典礼上，较为详尽地叙述我们要采取的方针和道路，看来是合适与恰当的。
现在，在我的四年任期结束之时，有关这场至今仍为举国瞩目与致力的大斗争的每个方面，时时有公开的宣告，因此没有新的内容向各位奉告了。我们的一切都依靠武装力量，这方面的进展，大家知道得和我一样清楚。
我相信，大家对此颇感满意和鼓舞。我们对未来抱有很大希望，在军事方面就勿庸多作预测。
四年前我初次就职之际，全国思虑都集中在即将爆发的内战之上。大家对内战都怀有恐惧，都设法避免这场内战的发生。当时我在这个讲坛上发表的就职演说，全部内容就是为了不战而拯救联邦。当时城里的叛逆分子却企图不用战争而摧毁联邦，企图通过谈判来瓦解联邦，瓜分国家所有。双方都反对战争，但其中一方却宁愿战争也不愿联邦毁灭，于是内战爆发。
我国黑奴占人口八分之一，他们不是普遍分布于全国各地，而是集中在南部。这些黑奴，构成一种特殊而重要的利益。尽人皆知，这种利益迟早会成为战争的起因。
叛逆分子不惜发动战争分裂联邦，以达到增大、扩展这种利益、使之永存的目的，政府却除去要求将奴隶制限于原来区域，不使扩大之外，不要求其他任何权利，双方都不曾预料到战争会有这样大的规模，持续这样久，不曾预料到引起冲突的原因在冲突停止前会消失。双方都寻求轻而易举的胜利，不求彻底或惊人的结果。双方信奉同一宗教。敬拜同一上帝，都诉求上帝帮助战胜对方。
说来奇怪，竟有人敢于要求公正的上帝帮助自己去榨取别人的血汗；但我们不要去品评他人吧，以免受到别人的评论。双方的祈求都不应得到满足，也没有任何一方得到完全的满足，因为全能的上帝自有主张。“祸哉斯世，以其陷入故也，夫陷人于罪，事所必有，但陷人祸矣。”
如果我们把美国的奴隶制当成是上帝必定要降给我们的灾祸，这灾祸已经到了上帝指定期限，他现在要免去这场灾祸了。他把这场可怕的战争降给南北双方，是要惩罚那些带来灾祸的人。笃信耶稣基督的人常把许多美德归于基督，我们难道可以说基督的这些作为，与他的美德相悖吗？
我们满怀希望，我们热诚祈祷，愿这场惩罚我们的战争早日过去；但假若天意要这场战争延续下去，直至二百五十年来利用奴隶无偿劳动辛苦积聚下来的财富销毁净尽，直至奴隶在皮
鞭下流淌的鲜血用刀剑下的鲜血来偿清，如同三千年前古语所说的那样，我们仍然要称颂上帝的判决是公允合理的。
我们对任何人不怀恶意，对所有人都抱有善心，对上帝使我们认识到的正义无限坚定。让我们努力完成我们正在进行的工作，愈合国家的战争伤痕，关怀战死的烈士及其遗属，尽一切力量争得并维护我国及全世界的正义的、持久的和平。
新SAT 阅读必考建国纲领之《解放黑人奴隶宣言》
美国《解放黑人奴隶宣言》（1862年）
阿佰拉罕·林肯
有鉴于1862年9月22日，联邦总统已经公布了一项宣言，包含如下内容，即：
自公元1863年1月1日起，任何一州内指定地区要是仍有蓄有奴隶，当地人们将视为反叛合众国政府。一切被蓄为奴的人应该获得自由，并永享自由。合众国政府，包括陆海军当局，承认并维护上述人员之自由。对于此种人或其中任何一人为争取自由而作努力，不采取任何压制行动。
从上述的1月1日起，总统将认定并宣布那些为反叛合众国政府的州或州内地区。其他各州及当地人人民如于该日确有由该州多数合格选民选出的代表真诚地参加合众国国会，倘物其他有力之反证，该州及其人民将被确认为不反叛合众国政府。因此，我，合众国总统阿佰拉罕·林肯，际此合众国政府及其权威受到武装叛乱反对时期，依据合众国政陆海军总司令
职权，为剿灭上述叛乱而采取适当与必须的军事手段，在此公元1863年1月1日，于上次为此目的而发表之宣言满一百日之际，正式宣布并认定下列各州、州内地区及其人民反叛合众国政府，即，阿肯色州、德克萨斯州、路易斯安那州（以下除外：”圣佰纳、帕拉奎明斯、杰弗逊、圣约翰、圣查理士、圣詹姆士、阿克森、阿森姆逊、特里本、拉孚切、圣玛丽、圣马丁和奥尔良各教区、新奥尔良市）、密西西比州、亚拉巴马洲、弗罗里达州、佐治亚洲、南卡罗来纳州、北卡罗来纳州及弗吉尼亚洲（除指定为西弗吉尼亚的四十八个县及其柏克莱、阿康马克、诺斯汉姆顿、伊丽萨白市、约克、安公主与诺福克，包括诺福克市及朴茨茅斯市）。明确规定，对上述除外的各地区目前保持本宣言公布之原状。
根据上述目的及我有之权力，我正式命令并宣布，在上述指明的各州及州内地区，所有被蓄为了奴隶的人，从现在起。获得自由。并永享自由，合众国政府，包括其陆海军当局，承认及维护上述人员之自由。
我在此责成上述宣告获得自由之人员，除必须之自卫，应该避免使用任何暴力；同时劝告他们，只要可能。在任何情况下都应该忠实工作，取得合理的薪金。
我还要宣布周知，上述人员如条件符合，可为了合众国征集入伍及警卫堡垒要塞、据点兵站及其他地方；亦可在各种军舰上服务。
我真诚地认为，这是一个正义的行动，此行动由于军事之必须，为宪法所认可。我要求人类判断此行动时预以谅解，请求全能上帝慈悲赐福。
The Emancipation Proclamation
Whereas, on the 22d day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, a proclamation was issued by the President of the United States, containing, among other things, the following, to wit:
"That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom.
"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 there to 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."
Now, therefore I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested as Commander-in-Chief, of the Army and Navy of the United States in time of actual armed rebellion against the authority and government of the United States, and as a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing said rebellion, do, on this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and in accordance with my purpose so to do publicly proclaimed for the full period of one hundred days, from the day first above mentioned, order and designate as the States and parts of States wherein the people thereof respectively, are this day in rebellion against the United States, the following, to wit:
Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana (except the Parishes of St. Bernard, Plaquemines, Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. James, Ascension, Assumption, Terrebonne, Lafourche, St. Mary, St. Martin, and Orleans, including the City of New Orleans), Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia (except the forty-eight counties designated as West Virginia, and also the counties of Berkeley, Accomack ,Northampton, Elizabeth City, York, Princess Anne, and Norfolk, including the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth), and which excepted parts, are for the present left precisely as if this proclamation were not issued.
And by virtue of the power, and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free; and that the Executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons.
And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free to abstain from all violence, unless in necessary self-defence; and I recommend to them that, in all cases when allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonable wages.
And I further declare and make known, that such persons of suitable condition, will be received into the armed service of the United States to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service.
And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind, and the gracious favor of Almighty God.
In witness whereof, I have here unto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the City of Washington, this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one
thousand eight hundred and sixty three,and of the Independence of the United States of America the eighty-seventh.
By the President: Abraham Lincoln
William H. Seward, Secretary of State.