Thousands line up for rare look at original Emancipation Proclamation
Thousands lined up outside the National Archives in Washington on Monday hoping to see original versions of the Emancipation Proclamation and General Order No. 3. As the country commemorated Juneteenth, thousands of people lined up outside the National Archives in Washington on Monday to see rarely exhibited original versions of the Emancipation Proclamation and General Order No. 3. The former is President Abraham Lincoln's order freeing America's slaves in 1863, amid the Civil War; the latter is from 1865 when a Union general informed Texas that slaves were now free -- on the day that later became Juneteenth. Both documents, while foundational to the United States and the end of slavery, are very fragile and normally kept in a secure climate-controlled vault with limited light exposure to ensure their preservation. MORE: US Constitution's exception for slavery faces renewed battle ahead of Juneteenth However, the National Archives intends to place the Emancipation Procl...