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April 16, 1862: Washington’s Emancipation Day

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LincolnIt’s a beautiful, bright, brisk spring day in the nation’s capital and we have a parade celebrating the Signing in 1862 of the Compensated Emancipation Act. There was a parade and there will be lectures and town hall meetings to mark this important advance for human liberty.

The next time a Republican presidential candidate or Republican National Chairman appears before the NAACP or some other civil rights organization, it might be good for the worthy spokesmen to recall that this important legislation was introduced by Republicans in Congress, passed by Republican majorities in both houses, and signed by Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican president.

The regular political action of “playing the race card” would be sad in any case, but it is especially regrettable when it flies in the face of indisputable historic evidence.

The history is clear:

Republicans in Congress pressed for Emancipation from their first days in the majority.

Republicans clamored for Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation.

Republicans supported Lincoln’s issuance of that Proclamation in the face of fierce Democratic opposition.

Republicans wrote, introduced, and approved the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution.

Republicans passed the important Nineteenth Century Civil Rights Acts, including the Ku Klux Klan Act that was so effective in combating this terrorist organization.

Republicans in the Twentieth Century introduced anti-lynch legislation in the House of Representatives in every Congress from the 1920s on. These bills routinely passed the House only to be killed by Democrats in the Senate.

In 1964, Republicans in the Senate overwhelmingly supported the great Civil Rights Act and provided the essential votes to break a filibuster by Democrats.

Baseball great Hank Aaron may be somewhat confused about who backs the KKK. The Ku Klux Klan was founded by, supported by, and protected by Democratic officeholders.


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