Today is Juneteenth!
Despite slavery being made illegal, many areas in the south did not immediately release their slaves. The Union, continuing with its fight against the Confederates, did not have enough troops to ensure that the slaves were freed. However, after the fighting ended and the Confederacy surrendered, the federal troops had the manpower needed to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation.
Galveston, Texas, became the last area where slaves were notified of their freedom after Major General Gordon Granger provided the order announcing their status as being free. This order did not extend to areas still under Native American control, slavery continued in these areas. Treaties with the Native Americans controlling these areas were needed to end slavery there.
The newly freed Blacks celebrated this day as Emancipation Day in the years that followed. Juneteenth became added as a federal holiday on June 17, 2021. Before Progressives could take credit for this new holiday, a look at inconvenient historical facts is in order.
Supreme Court Decision against Dred Scott
Seven justices (Democrat) voted against Dred Scott, effectively declaring him as property. The two justices that voted in Dread Scott’s favor were conservative, one Republican and one from the Whig Party.
The Civil War
Democrat controlled southern states seceded from the Union to form the Confederacy. The Republicans dominated the North, with Abraham Lincoln being the first Republican president. The Confederacy lost; federal troops occupied the Southern states.
Reconstruction
The Democrat controlled southern states had to go through a process to re-enter the union. This left the Republicans in control of both chambers in Congress, as well as the Northern States. The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments were shot-gunned through congress and the states with massive Republican support and massive Democrat opposition.
The newly freed blacks became Republicans in droves, causing Republicans to win political offices in the former Confederate states.
Disgruntled former Confederates, partly due to fear that the Democrats would permanently lose power, formed the KKK. One of the KKK’s jobs was to harass and intimidate Republicans… Which included virtually all newly freed Blacks.
Post Reconstruction
Democrats charged back into power and implement segregation and Jim Crow laws.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964
Just over 80% of the Republicans in Congress supported the act, just under 70% of the Democrats in Congress also supported the act. The parties did not switch! A record breaking (at the time) filibuster was conducted by 21 Democrat Senators. Robert Byrd was among them. Note: Both Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden praised Robert Byrd.
Confederate Statues
The toppling of the Confederate statues benefited the Democrats. These statues remind us of the time when the Democrats fought to keep slavery, then proceeded to implement segregation. Those that toppled the statues and fought to remove Confederate symbols due to their association with slavery and racism, turned around and voted for the Democratic Party despite its involvement with slavery and racism.
Indeed, Democrats get credit for Juneteenth being a federal holiday. They wanted to keep slavery even after the Confederacy surrendered. The movement by Major General Gordon Granger and his men to Galveston, then making that announcement on June 19, 1865, would start a chain of events that would eventually result in the new federal holiday.
Category: Historical, Open thread, Pointless blather
