On September 22, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that as of January 1, 1863, all enslaved people in the states then engaged in rebellion against the Union “shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.” It was the beginning of the end of the Confederacy's treason in defense of slavery.
Julia Ward Howe's lyrics to "Battle Hymn of the Republic" had already been published in The Atlantic in February 1862, including this verse:
In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea/
With a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me.
As he died to make men holy/Let us die to make men free/
While God is marching on.
The song was set to the tune of “John Brown’s Body,” which was more than appropriate, given that the lyricist was married to Samuel Gridley Howe, one of the Secret Six who had funded John Brown’s attempt to free the enslaved people of Virginia at Harpers Ferry.
Although revisionists have repeatedly attempted to recast the Civil War as a struggle over states’ rights, it was evident almost from the beginning that it was ultimately a battle to end slavery.
Many contemporary artists challenge us to "live to make men free," but that does not change the poignancy of Union soldiers marching to battle willing to die for the cause of freedom.
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