Military Governor Andrew Johnson freed the slaves of Tennessee in 1864. This video portrays a highlight of that speech, as well as music by Greeneville's Wesley Heights Community Choir.
"Colored men of Nashville: You have all heard of the President's Proclamation, by which he announces to the world that the slaves in a large portion of the seceded States were thenceforth and forever free. For certain reasons, which seemed wise to the President, the benefits of that Proclamation did not extend to you or to your native State. Many of you consequently were left in bondage. The task-master's scourge was not yet broken, and the fetters still galled your limbs. Gradually this iniquity has been passing away, but the hour has come when the last vestiges of it must be removed. Consequently, I, too, without reference to the President or any other person, have a proclamation to make; and, standing here upon the steps of the Capitol, with the past history of the State to witness, the present condition to guide, and its future to encourage me, I, Andrew Johnson, do hereby proclaim freedom - full, broad, and unconditional - to every man in Tennessee!"
