I’ve been
trying to make sense of this new Federal holiday called Juneteenth. I did a
little research to try and understand it. I googled its origins and found the
explanation that CBS news gives as extremely hilarious. Does anyone do any
research before writing anymore or has the country become that “dumbed down”
that there is no fear of someone having the intelligence to learn the truth?
Before you get upset with me, read
this entire article. I don’t have a problem with people celebrating the end of
slavery. I do have a problem with it being limited to just people with African
ancestors who were slaves. Native Americans were slaves, Irish were slaves, the
Jewish were slaves, and the list goes on and on. I also have a problem with the
explanation given for Juneteenth.
According to Emily Mae Czachor a news
editor for CBS, the proclamation freed the slaves, but couldn’t free everyone
in Confederate controlled states. Has this person even read the proclamation?
Did the proclamation free a single slave? The answer to both questions is
probably the same. No.
The proclamation was issued as a war
measure only. President Lincoln understood two things about the slaves. The
first was the fact that they kept the Confederate Army fed and the second that
they were home while Southern soldiers were at the front. If he could incite
slave rebellions in the heart of the Confederacy, he could finally win a war
that he was losing. The most surprising thing to Mr. Lincoln was the fact that
the slaves in the South remained loyal. Not a single slave insurrection occurred
during the war.
The states of Kentucky, Maryland,
Delaware, and Missouri would retain their slaves until the 13th
Amendment was passed. If Lincoln was so concerned with freeing slaves, these
would have been the first he freed. These states were still part of the United
States and were under his control. He not only never freed a single slave in
these states, there were more he could have freed, but didn’t.
There
were twelve parishes in Louisiana that were exempt from the proclamation
because it was controlled by the Federal Army. (That’s right, these slaves
remained slaves. It wasn’t just Louisiana either. There were forty-eight
counties of Virginia (which illegally became the state of West Virginia see
Article IV, section 3 of the United States Constitution) that were not freed by
the proclamation because it was occupied by the United States Army. There were
another seven counties of what is still Virginia that were excluded. Not a
slave in Tennessee was freed by the proclamation because it was occupied by the
Federal Army.
Unfortunately,
none of this is taught in schools anymore and if it were, it would just be
ignored. So how many slaves did the emancipation free? The answer is zero. You
see, Mr. Lincoln didn’t free a single slave he could have freed, but attempted
to free slaves that he had no ability to free. I can see why it is such an
important holiday, can’t you?
