By Randy Rossi -
The tragedy of making “Juneteenth” a federal holiday celebrating the end of slavery in the U.S. is that it distracts from reality and an incredibly important part of U.S. history in which slavery was actually ended in America. U.S. slaves were not made free on June 19, 1865 in Texas as “Juneteenth” suggests. They were first legally made free by Republican President Abraham Lincoln in his Emancipation Proclamation on September 1862 which freed all slaves in Confederate states as of January 1, 1863.
Every Northern Union state had already made slavery illegal by 1804. Then the Democrat Confederate Army surrendered to the Republican Union Army at Appomattox Virginia on April 9, 1865 which ended the tragic American Civil War which killed 650,000 Americans and wounded 1.2 million Americans to free the slaves held by Democrat slave owners in the South. That victory gave the Republicans the power to end slavery across America.
Then the Republicans passed the 13th Amendment on December 18, 1865 which made slavery illegal across America. Democrats voted against the 13th Amendment, but Republicans had the power and the votes to pass it. That legally freed all the slaves in America. That was the day that slavery became illegal across America thanks to Republicans. Democrats fought to keep slavery with everything they had but thankfully, they lost.
Sadly, many Confederate states (Democrats) resisted freeing their slaves after losing the Civil War so the Union Army (Republicans) had to go to Confederate states and enforce freeing the slaves. In some cases those Republicans gave the freed slaves 40 acres of confiscated land from plantation owners and a mule to give the freed slaves economic independence. 100% of American slaves were legally set free before “Juneteenth” and 99% were physically set free before “Juneteenth”. Unfortunately, the Republican Union Army didn’t have enough resources to get all the way to Texas to enforce the law until June 19, 1865 when a Union (Republican) general went to Texas and forced it to free the slaves as the 13th Amendment passed by Republicans demanded.
“Juneteenth” distracts from Americas long battle to free the slaves held by Democrat plantation owners. The USA was born on July 4, 1776 when it declared independence from Britain which brought slavery to America. America was made a independent nation on September 3, 1783 when it won the Revolution and Britain signed the Treaty of Paris. Several Northern states made slavery illegal even before that date. America made slavery illegal in Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, and Minnesota on July 13, 1787 through the Northwest Ordinance when America was just 4 years old. All the Northern states had made slavery illegal by 1804 when New Jersey became the last Northern state to make slavery illegal. That was when the USA was just 17 years old! The bottom line is that most of America except the Democrat controlled South made slavery illegal when the USA was just 17 years old.
The problem with this “Juneteenth” celebration is that it doesn’t give the USA the credit it deserves for being the leader in the world for freedom. Slavery has been practiced on every continent on Earth except Antarctica (nobody can live there!) for thousands of years. The Black slaves sent to America were first enslaved by Africans in tribal wars and then sold for profits. 94% of those slaves shipped from Africa did not go to what is now the USA, they went to Central and South America and the Caribbean! Native Americans practiced slavery for over ten thousand years and several Indian tribes fought with the Democrat Confederate Army to keep their slaves. 13% of American slaves were owned by free Black plantation owners! Europe practiced slavery for thousands of years. Slavery has been a human tragedy for thousands of years around the world but the USA ended slavery when it was just 82 years old! There are still 24 million slaves illegally held in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. But not in America! Yet Dems who fought to keep their slaves in the Civil War blame Republicans that fought to free the slaves for slavery? This is the definition of hypocrisy!
“Juneteenth” distracts from the real date that America declared its independence so that it could make freedom available for every American and that was July 4, 1776! And America accomplished that goal of total freedom for all Americans in just 82 years after becoming an independent country when the Republicans passed the 13th Amendment in 1865 after they won the Civil War. Besides, why do we need to pay government workers for another day off with our taxes?
