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Weren’t Black People In The USA Freed Over 150 Years Ago? Why Are Things Still So Bad?
A historical refresher for those like me that didn’t know
Let’s start with some history
Reconstruction after the American Civil War began immediately in 1865 with Abraham Lincoln’s federal government imposing the Thirteenth Amendment to completely abolish slavery everywhere in the USA. While Northern states ratified it quickly, Lincoln convinced, cajoled and forced previously slave-owning states to ratify it before they would be granted aid and resources to rebuild. Most did so grudgingly, which is why Juneteenth is famously celebrated to commemorate the final slaves becoming free more than two years after many Northern slaves had been freed.
Less than a month after states had begun to ratify the Amendment, Lincoln has been assassinated and his Vice President Andrew Johnson, who was strongly opposed to his policies, decided instead to be lenient towards ex-Confederates so as to rush the defeated states back into the Union to get back onto the international stages as soon as possible. While he sought to ratify this Amendment as soon as possible, he vetoed bills that would give the newly-freed black people full equality as American citizens with the ability to vote. The fact that he was an…
