Watch Night

Religious service held on New Year's Eve to celebrate and remember the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, which freed slaves in the Confederate states during the American Civil War. Most mainline Protestant churches in the United States sponsor a Watch Night service on New Year's Eve.

The tradition of Watch Night, also known as “Freedom's Eve,” dates back to December 31, 1862. According to tradition, slaves in the Confederate states gathered in churches and private homes for protection from their owners on the night before President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation was to go into effect. The soon-to-be free slaves stayed awake all night and watched the night turn into a new dawn while waiting for news that the Emancipation Proclamation would be enforced, thus making all the slaves legally free.

Today, church services on Watch Night generally begin sometime between 7 P.M. and 10 P.M. and end at midnight. Entire families attend services to celebrate. Some then go on to New Year's Eve parties after the Watch Night service.