Copernicus
Industrial Strength Linguist
It's still a little controversial, but June 19th commemorates the 1865 announcement by General Gordon Granger to enslaved people in a former Confederate state that they were free citizens--three years after the Emancipation Proclamation and months after the end of the Civil War.
For those who would like to test their knowledge of the events surrounding Juneteenth, a.k.a. Emancipation Day, here is an interesting 15-second quiz:
For more historical background, see:
It is interesting that the vast majority of African American voters were members of the Republican Party, as were the former slaves that were elected to office. By the end of President Grant's second term, the Jim Crow era had arrived, and black voters and candidates were often brutally suppressed. It wasn't until the Roosevelt era that large numbers of blacks moved into the Democratic Party, setting the stage for the 1964 Civil Rights Voting Act, which drove the solidly Democratic South into the arms of the Republican Party.
For those who would like to test their knowledge of the events surrounding Juneteenth, a.k.a. Emancipation Day, here is an interesting 15-second quiz:
Juneteenth Quiz: How well do you know Emancipation Day?
For more historical background, see:
Juneteenth: The History of a Holiday
It is interesting that the vast majority of African American voters were members of the Republican Party, as were the former slaves that were elected to office. By the end of President Grant's second term, the Jim Crow era had arrived, and black voters and candidates were often brutally suppressed. It wasn't until the Roosevelt era that large numbers of blacks moved into the Democratic Party, setting the stage for the 1964 Civil Rights Voting Act, which drove the solidly Democratic South into the arms of the Republican Party.
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