By Ethan Vo | January 1st, 1863 is also known as “Freedom’s Eve” to many. Once the clock struck midnight, all of the enslaved people in the Confederate states had their prayers answered. Both free and enslaved African Americans came together in churches and homes all over the nation awaiting the news that the Emancipation Proclamation has taken effect. When news broke, Union soldiers marched onto plantations and into cities all across the south, reading copies of the Emancipation Proclamation, spreading the good news of freedom.
