The only reason Juneteenth became a thing was because Saint Floyd died in May, and it was the soonest "black" holiday to beat people over the head with the following month. It would make 100x more sense to have a federal holiday for the Emancipation Proclamation, but that would be in September so it was too far away. Instead we got a holiday with possibly the stupidest, least descriptive name ever, and the holiday is for slaves being freed in one state.
The Emancipation Proclamation was announced in September, but it went into effect January 1st.
And not one state. One city, and not just any kind of freed, but freed under order of military occupation (which in and of itself was probably still some kind of illegal). The freeing of any slave in the US by military fiat was illegal until the 13th Amendment. Even the Emancipation Proclamation was illegal and unconstitutional. The 13th Amendment was basically designed to back-rationalize all the shit the army had been doing since 1861 (which is when they started "freeing" slaves, by taking them as "contraband").
The only reason Juneteenth became a thing was because Saint Floyd died in May, and it was the soonest "black" holiday to beat people over the head with the following month. It would make 100x more sense to have a federal holiday for the Emancipation Proclamation, but that would be in September so it was too far away. Instead we got a holiday with possibly the stupidest, least descriptive name ever, and the holiday is for slaves being freed in one state.
The Emancipation Proclamation was announced in September, but it went into effect January 1st.
And not one state. One city, and not just any kind of freed, but freed under order of military occupation (which in and of itself was probably still some kind of illegal). The freeing of any slave in the US by military fiat was illegal until the 13th Amendment. Even the Emancipation Proclamation was illegal and unconstitutional. The 13th Amendment was basically designed to back-rationalize all the shit the army had been doing since 1861 (which is when they started "freeing" slaves, by taking them as "contraband").