Happy Juneteenth!

Happy Juneteenth!--July 19th, 1865 was the day that slavery was officially declared to be ended, following Lincoln's initial emancipation proclamation on January 1, 1863 (which was more than two years before the Civil War actually ended.) This proclamation finally put an end to the official hypocrisy of slavery continuing in the face of the Declaration of Independence. Of course, the terrible aftermath of the Civil War has left scars to this day.

As a man who grew up in the Jim Crow South (I'm from Richmond, Virginia, which was, let it not be forgotten, the capital of the Confederacy) I witnessed more of the ugliness of this legally racist time than did many who lived outside the South.

Here is an article by Chris Cambell, from Laissez-Faire Today, that celebrates the powerful oratory of escaped slave and autodidact, Frederick Douglass, from a speech he delivered in 1853, eight years before the war began:

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1776 - 1863: On American Independence

Laissez Faire Today
Juneteenth flag
June 19, 2020

--In 1853, Frederick Douglass delivered an incredibly fiery, provocative (and, yes, dangerous) speech at the time called, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?”

He said:

“What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer; a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim.

“To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciation of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are, to Him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy—a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages.”

Of course, with slavery still rampant in the United States, he was right.

The ambitious words penned in 1776 had hardly been realized three generations later -- and in the very country which held them highest.

Fortunately, Douglass’ own words… and those of the many abolitionists in the United States… didn’t go ignored.

Frederick Douglass marker

The public pressure had been mounting, and at last, the seal was breaking.

On Jan. 1, 1863, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring all slaves in the rebelling states to be “henceforth and forever free.”

In 1865, Congress sent the Thirteenth Amendment to the states for ratification…

Nothing could stop what was coming.

When Robert E. Lee surrendered on April 9, 1865, a good chunk of the country still didn’t even know what had happened.

In our era where news travels at the speed of light, it’s easy to forget just how slowly it moved back then.

And also -- though time has done little to change this one -- just how easy the truth was to obscure.

Many plantation owners waited until after the harvest to notify slaves of their freedom. Some waited until a federal government agent or Union soldiers arrived.

But it was on June 19, 1865, in Galveston, Texas, that delivered the shot heard ‘round the states.

That was the day General Gordon Granger issued the following order:

“The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor.”

After the order, it became common among black Americans to celebrate on June 19… later to be known as “Juneteenth.”

And this only began the process of fulfilling the wording of the United States Declaration of Independence, ratified long before on July 4, 1776…

And thus marking the beginning of the end of one of our young country’s greatest hypocrisies.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that ALL men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

Some might tell you the American Experiment, as written in 1776, is dead.

We say, with apologies to Twain, such reports have been greatly exaggerated.

Texas deemed Juneteenth worthy of statewide recognition in 1980, becoming the first state to do so.

And today we celebrate, too.

Freedom is the natural birthright of every soul on Earth.

And as libertarian-leaning folks, we cheer on any reason to celebrate its advancement.

Happy Juneteenth.

Until tomorrow,

Chris Campbell

Managing editor, Laissez Faire Today

Laissez Faire Today is your daily free e-letter that explores current events and topics related to freedom, self-reliance and independent action.

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