So today, Juneteenth (June
19th) became a national holiday for the 1st time OFFICIALLY. Abraham
Lincoln only freed the slaves in the southern portion of the United States with
the Emancipation Proclamation. Juneteenth commemorates the freeing of all the
slaves in both northern and southern portions of the United States with the
Union victory, end of the Civil War in 1865, and passage of the 13th
amendment of the U.S. Constitution. I’m honestly surprised that no one has made
it a national holiday, yet, before today. The 1st place it was
recognized was in Galveston, Texas and it’s been celebrated since 1866. I see
it as just as much of an important holiday, as Presidents’ Day, or Martin
Luther King Day. So therefore, I completely understand why people would want to
make it a federal holiday. Slavery is 1 of the greatest stains on our country’s
history from the moment the 1st slaves were brought to Virginia in
1619 up until 1865, especially being that we were trying to create a
Constitutional Democratic Republic, which was very radical for the time because
most countries were still governed by aristocratic, wealthy, and divinely-birthed
monarchs, and their families. It’s very contradictory to have a government created
by the people, of the people, and for the people when half the population that’s
doing all the backbreaking labor doesn’t have a say in the country that is supposed
to promote individualism, and equality. But as I say that, every country in the
world has had slavery at some point in their history, and it’s just as wrong
then, as it should be now no matter the country, or time period. The mother country Britain and the United
States were just the 1st 2 countries to finally do away with it starting
in the early modern time period, which automatically makes them better for that
reason. The year’s 1807 and 1808 respectively, by banning the slave trade. To
say you were anti-slavery in any part of the world before 1807 was like saying
you believe in aliens, or don’t like to breathe oxygen. It was that outlandish
of a concept. No country is perfect, but this is why the United States is a
little bit better than most countries because at least in theory, if you don’t
like the way the country is being run you have the ability to amend the law,
whereas in other countries, laws were written to keep the same people in power,
and the citizens have little to no rights, or say in their country.
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