The essence of America isn’t characterized by four centuries of racial subjugation but by the 247-year-long persistent and often heroic struggle by Americans of every race and creed to live up to our highest ideals. This ideal continues to inspire countless individuals, both domestically and internationally. Juneteenth stands as a symbol of this enduring inspiration.
Juneteenth signifies an essential milestone: the cessation of slavery within America’s borders. In an era of divisive culture wars over holidays, one might assume the MAGA realm views this new holiday with a measure of skepticism. Perhaps so, but it was Donald Trump himself who, in an unprecedented move among presidents, threw his weight behind the elevation of Juneteenth to a federal holiday.
Many appreciate that the new holiday celebrates an event of national transformation rather than exalting a solitary individual in the vein of Columbus Day or Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Yet, there is this critique of Juneteenth: it unintentionally glosses over a notable portion of the historical narrative.
For prior Juneteenths, Google offered a blurb explaining that Juneteenth commemorates “[e]mancipation of the last remaining enslaved people in the United States,” and countless websites explain that the holiday signifies “[e]mancipation of the last remaining enslaved African Americans in the Confederacy.” A lot of people appear to believe that, but it’s false.
On June 19, 1865, Union General Gordon Granger shared the news of emancipation with the enslaved population of Texas. Yet, a Confederate faction under the leadership of Stand Watie, operating within the fringes of the disintegrating Confederate Indian Territory, stood ground until surrendering four days later. Considering that Watie’s Cherokee community held slaves, a handful were likely emancipated only upon this military unit’s capitulation, which disputes Google’s succinct summary.
Perhaps more significantly, the bitter stain of slavery within America persisted beyond Juneteenth, even outliving the Confederacy’s defeat. While Maryland and Missouri, two border states, abolished slavery during the conflict, Kentucky and Delaware remained resolute. Thus, even after the Confederacy was subdued, two slave states persisted within the reunified Union until December 18, 1865, when the Thirteenth Amendment took effect.
The conclusion of slavery in America was not marked by a singular moment or the stroke of a general’s pen, but rather it faded into a somber dusk following epochs of steadfast commitment to change, economic progress, and technological innovation. This change was largely sparked by concerted religious, social, and political efforts.
Acknowledging the enduring legacy of slavery within our national history and culture is vital. Yet, celebrating Juneteenth does not tarnish the American Dream; on the contrary, it signifies its ongoing realization. The Founding Fathers spearheaded a global endeavor to abolish slavery, a significant pursuit rooted in principle. In a time when slavery was globally commonplace, it was the notion of freedom that emerged as the unique institution.
While the promise of America remained somewhat unrealized by the Founding Fathers, it was their vision that propelled an international discourse on human liberty and its compatibility with slavery and other forms of forced labor.
The essence of America isn’t characterized by four centuries of racial subjugation but by the 247-year-long persistent and often heroic struggle by Americans of every race and creed to live up to our highest ideals. This ideal continues to inspire countless individuals, both domestically and internationally. Juneteenth stands as a symbol of this enduring inspiration.
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The featured image is Fernando Miranda, “The Statue of ‘The Freed Slave’ in Memorial Hall,” illustration from Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, August 5, 1876, and is in the public domain, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Thank you, Mr Claybourne, for this excellent article. For anyone interested in follow-up reading on the noble theme of Americans striving for justice for all, I highly recommend a book published last year entitled, “A Shot in the Moonlight: How a Freed Slave and a Confederate Soldier Fought for Justice in the Jim Crow South” by Ben Montgomery,
Sad that an essay has to begin by taking a potshot at “MAGA”. I suppose that’s what it takes to earn “street cred” in academia these days. The reluctance that conservatives have at this “holiday” is its being another creeping form of the 1619 project’s propaganda campaign to portray America (and Western culture and Christianity, by extension) as the sole sinners in the institution of slavery.
If one of these “historians” actually attended a MAGA event, they might arrive at a different conclusion than the one of intellectual disdain from afar – not withstanding the low brow, narcissistic rants that draws them to the event. But that later comment is due to the honesty of the comments and that it’s more moral than the alternative of the slick tongued media creations who seek to destroy MAGA. At least MAGA isn’t sipping bud lite in target cross-sexing restrooms any more.
I think it is a worthy holiday to add to our national calendar.
Whatever Juneteenth may have meant to the few people who heard of Gen. Granger’s proclamation in 1865, its imposition as a Federal holiday in the 2020s is not a benign gesture. It is one more move in the Left’s unrelenting campaign to denigrate America and distort how Americans understand their own history by presenting it to them as a tale of unrelieved oppression of non-white people by white people. Making Juneteenth a formal holiday may make liberals and nominal conservatives feel good about themselves, but it is yet another divisive act that weakens an already confused and increasingly divided country. Effectively making “Lift Every Voice and Sing” an alternate national anthem is in the same vein. Citizens who’ve been conditioned to believe that their country is irredeemably deplorable are less likely to resist its transformation through unlimited mass immigration, for example.
I saw tape of one parade for the holiday in which a number of marchers were carrying a banner that read, “REPARATIONS.” If the “Show me the money!” aspects could be done away with, I might find it easier to take the holiday seriously.
After reading this essay and the comments, I have concluded that the epic events of the Emancipation and Reformation were quite similar in their respective goals ; freedom from subjugation from an imposed authority. What kind of freedom did these epic, historical movements hope for since human history has only thrived under authority. What and how is “freedom “ viewed? Fought for? Desired for? Just wondering.
Interesting. I suppose that if the freedom that the United States is founded on is the same kind of desire for “freedom” that drove the catastrophe of the Reformation, the one would have to conclude that it is something like this:
“…Here at least
We shall be free; the Almighty hath not built
Here for His envy, will not drive us hence:
Here we may reign secure, and in my choice
To reign is worth ambition though in Hell:
Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven.” – John Milton, Paradise Lost.
Milton, of course, was a proponent of the Reformation and a notorious apologist for the regicide of His Majesty, Charles I.
The United States of America was established without slavery being abolished. This original sin was absolved by the Civil War. 2% of the American population were killed. But slavery was ended, and the nation was redeemed. People of all races, from all regions could feel good about the country. The Juneteenth holiday was established to reverse this. Who wanted this and why? Forget about any historical facts regarding this date, they have little to do with the real intention of making this a holiday. Take this day to learn about cultural Marxism and the cultural revolutions of the past.
I wouldn’t mind it so much if the ruling powers weren’t using it to replace Independence Day.