Letter from Annie Davis to Abraham Lincoln
8/25/1864
Add to Favorites:
Add all page(s) of this document to activity:
"Mr. President, It is my Desire to be free," wrote Annie Davis to Abraham Lincoln, 20 months after he issued the Emancipation Proclamation. Writing from Belair, Maryland, she continued, "Will you please let me know if we are free."
Although there is no record of Lincoln ever responding, had he, his answer would have been "No, you are not free." The Emancipation Proclamation affected only those parts that were in rebellion against the United States on the date it was issued, January 1, 1863. The slaveholding border states of Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri were thus exempt from the Proclamation. However, in November 1864 the Maryland state constitution was rewritten. The new version abolished slavery, and Annie Davis was free.
Text adapted from “It is My Desire to be Free: Annie Davis’s Letter to Abraham Lincoln and Winslow Homer’s Painting A Visit from the Old Mistress” in the May/June 2010 National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) publication Social Education.
Although there is no record of Lincoln ever responding, had he, his answer would have been "No, you are not free." The Emancipation Proclamation affected only those parts that were in rebellion against the United States on the date it was issued, January 1, 1863. The slaveholding border states of Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri were thus exempt from the Proclamation. However, in November 1864 the Maryland state constitution was rewritten. The new version abolished slavery, and Annie Davis was free.
Text adapted from “It is My Desire to be Free: Annie Davis’s Letter to Abraham Lincoln and Winslow Homer’s Painting A Visit from the Old Mistress” in the May/June 2010 National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) publication Social Education.
Transcript
Belair Aug 25th 1864Mr. President
It is my Desire to be free. to go to see my people on the eastern shore. my mistress wont let me you will please let me know if we are free. and what I can do. I write to you for advice. please send me word this[?] week. or as soon as possible. and oblidge.
Annie Davis
Belair Thaford
County. Mt D.
Belair Thaford
Cu[?]
This primary source comes from the Records of the Adjutant General's Office.
National Archives Identifier: 4662543
Full Citation: Letter from Annie Davis to Abraham Lincoln; 8/25/1864; 1864 D-304; Letters Received, 1863-1888; Records of the Adjutant General's Office, Record Group 94; National Archives Building, Washington, DC. [Online Version, https://docsteach.org/documents/document/letter-from-annie-davis-to-abraham-lincoln, October 3, 2024]Activities that use this document
- Letter to President Abraham Lincoln from Annie Davis
Created by the National Archives Education Team
Rights: Public Domain, Free of Known Copyright Restrictions. Learn more on our privacy and legal page.
