05-17-2022 Proclamation - Florida Emancipation Day ~ May 20thProclamation
WHEREAS, Our Country is made up of great people from all over the world, who are, declared
equal not only in freedom but also in justice; and
WHEREAS, Our nation was conceived on July 4, 1776, with the Declaration of Independence,
the timeless statement being: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men
are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable
Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness"; and
WHEREAS, On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation
Proclamation, providing that all persons held as slaves within any State or designated
part of a State "shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free;" and
WHEREAS, On May 20, 1865, 11 days after the end of the Civil War, and two years after the
Proclamation first issued by President Abraham Lincoln freed those enslaved in
Southern states, Union Brigadier Gen. Edward McCook formally announced
President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation from the steps of the
Knott House in Tallahassee; and
WHEREAS On May 20, 2022, we celebrate 157 years of Freedom.
NOW, THEREFORE, be it resolved that the City Commission of the City of Ocoee does hereby
proclaim May 20, 2022, as
Florida Emancipation Day
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my
hand and caused the Seal of the City of Ocoee,
Florida to be affixed this 17' day ofMay, 2022.