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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, One of the greatest crises in the history of the
3United States, the Civil War, almost tore the nation apart; the
4leaders of the United States decided, upon the conclusion of
5the war, to use the life and memory of Abraham Lincoln, who had
6just been assassinated, as a symbol of national unity and
7mutual forgiveness; and
 
8    WHEREAS, Instead of using the President's death to look for
9conspiracies and take revenge upon the fallen Confederacy, the
10fallen President's administration organized a funeral train
11that would follow a modified version of the pathway taken by
12the then President-elect on his way to Washington; and
 
13    WHEREAS, The train's route from Washington to Springfield,
14Illinois, traveled through both a former slave state (Maryland)
15and 6 "free states" as a symbol of the reunification of the
16country; and
 
17    WHEREAS, To enable as many Americans as possible to pay
18tribute to Lincoln's memory, the funeral train's route was
19modified to make stops in Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York
20City, Albany, Buffalo, Cleveland, Columbus, Indianapolis, and
21Chicago; Lincoln's funeral train became one of the first
22exercises of ceremonial mass participation in modern world

 

 

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1history, with reporters seeing more than 1 million mourners
2line the train tracks; tens of thousands attended casket
3viewings held at principal railroad junctions along the route;
4and
 
5    WHEREAS, Lincoln's funeral train, and his return to
6Springfield, Illinois, are powerful symbols of the desire of
7all Americans for peace, reconciliation, and searching for
8sources of common inspiration to resolve our social, political,
9and economic differences; and
 
10    WHEREAS, Support for the memory of Abraham Lincoln, and for
11the ceremonies used to return him publicly to his hometown in
12central Illinois, are a powerful way for Americans to fight
13back against the bitterness and resentment generated by today's
14press and politics; and
 
15    WHEREAS, By minting a Lincoln Sesquicentennial Coin, we can
16continue the legacy of Abraham Lincoln and pay tribute to this
17great man and his efforts to keep our nation together;
18therefore, be it
 
19    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
20NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
21we urge the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee to study and
22make a recommendation to the United States Secretary of the

 

 

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1Treasury on the production of a Lincoln Sesquicentennial Coin;
2and be it further
 
3    RESOLVED, That such a coin should be minted for circulation
4in April and May of 2015 in memory of President Abraham Lincoln
5and the reunification of the United States as symbolized by his
6funeral train to Springfield, Illinois and the subsequent
7re-enactment of his burial on the 150th anniversary of the
8original event on May 4, 2015; and be it further
 
9    RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
10presented to the members of the Citizens Coinage Advisory
11Committee, United States Secretary of the Treasury Jacob Lew,
12the members of Illinois delegation of the U.S. House of
13Representatives, and U.S. Senators Dick Durbin and Mark Kirk.