Proclamation (Reuters/L. Downing)  On Tuesday President Obama
called on his authority under the rarely evoked Antiquities Act,
which lets presidents restrict the use of federally owned land,
by designating America's newest national monument. Adding to the
list of places that enjoy this protection, such as the Statue of
Liberty and the Grand Canyon, Obama selected Fort Monroe -- a
former military base with pivotal ties to the history of U.S.
slavery.  "Fort Monroe in Hampton, Virginia, has played a
remarkable role in the history of our nation," the president
said during an Oval Office signing ceremony attended by a
delegation including Rep. Bobby Scott, Sen. Mark Warner and
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar.  "It was the site of the
first slave ships to land in the New World. But then in the
Civil War, almost 250 years later, Fort Monroe also became a
refuge for slaves that were escaping from the South, and helped
to create the environment in which Abraham Lincoln was able to
sign that document up there,"