It’s a myth that the Emancipation Proclamation didn’t immediately free any slaves. It freed tens of thousands of slaves on the day it went into effect. The proclamation didn’t specifically free slaves in Confederate territory; it freed slaves whose owners were in Confederate territory. There were tens of thousands of slaves like this who had escaped from their owners and were now living in American territory. The Emancipation Proclamation freed all of them on the day it went into effect.
I’ve long thought that we should move MLK Day to the Monday that falls within 3 Apr to 9 Apr (inclusive). The current date of MLK Day is too soon after the winter holidays. Putting it in early April would fill the long gap between President’s Day and Memorial Day. That date range means it won’t fall on April Fools Day, but will still be close to or on the day he was assassinated.
How about August 28? That’s the anniversary of the day King delivered his “I have a dream” speech.
Too close to Labor Day.
True. But we should move Labor Day to May 1. That’s when the rest of the world celebrates it.
Ahem. 
Is there a popular myth that the EP didn’t free any slaves? I’ve never heard that.
The EP freed a large number of slaves. However, it didn’t:
- Free all slaves.
- Didn’t free them permanently, since the EP was made under Lincoln’s war powers. Once the war was over the EP had no authority and was on shaky legal ground to begin with. *
The 13th Amendment freed all slaves for eternity. Looking back on it, it’s fairly stunning that we don’t commemorate the end of slavery. We don’t commemorate the end of the Civil War, either, so I suppose we just wanted to get past that part of our history with little comment.
* - While it’s always dangerous to use Hollywood for history, Spielberg’s Lincoln does a pretty good job of explaining the issue.
I have heard people say it, often combined with a derogatory sneer at Lincoln: “yeah, Lincoln, not like he really freed any slaves.”
But then summer would be over a month before it begins!
I’ve heard people say it. Including on this message board.
I don’t think this is correct. My understanding is that the law did not recognize any legal means to re-enslave somebody after they had been legally freed.
The EP was never challenged in court. If it had it is conceivable that the EP would be overturned, throwing millions back into slavery. The 13th amendment made it forever moot.
I agree, but it will never happen because then the downtrodden peons might become more aware of the Haymarket riot, and that might lead to them thinking and asking questions and maybe getting ideas…
I’m just popping in to say that my history education was so awful, or dominated by white supremacists, that we didn’t learn:
About Juneteenth
That Delaware and Kentucky kept people enslaved until the 13th Amendment (found out in this thread)
That the Emancipation Proclamation didn’t free enslaved people in the Union (found out in this thread)
About the Tulsa Massacre (found out from the Watchmen series)
That’s on top of all the lies about States Rights, the connection between white supremacy and the Confederate Flag, etc.
I’m in my 50s. Is there any other war where the hisstory was written so completely by the losers?
I’m not sure if this is the right thread for this mini-rant, but my complete lack of knowledge about Juneteenth until the last couple of years just brought all of those other lies or cover-ups into focus for me.
I don’t think this is necessarily a sign of history by white supremacists. A lot of it is regional. I’ve lived in Boston and Seattle most of my life and never heard of Juneteenth until Trump blundered into it because that is largely a Southern celebration. The confusion over the EP and 13th Amendment is understandable as a simplification of history.
For sure we gloss over (or ignore) a lot of the tragedies in our history, like Japanese interment camps, the Tulsa massacre, and The Trail of Tears. History is vast and there are a lot of tragedies to cover; some are going to get short shrift.
You might want to sit down while you read about George Washington and the Iroquois.
Then you probably aren’t aware that the Tulsa Massacre was not the only such incident, although it was probably the largest. There were similar attacks on Black neighborhoods in various other Southern cities throughout that era. For example, the one in Wilmington NC in 1898. There a list of more of them in the sidebar on that page.
When is it too late to learn?
At your funeral.
Thanks, everyone, for the responses. I really didn’t want to hijack this thread, so sorry about that. This thread should be cause for celebration.
I learned about the Springfield race riot in my thirties from a friend who had grown up in Springfield. A lot of this is regional history that is just not widely known outside the area it happened.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS everyone !!!