Reason to be very proud of the Republican Party

More on Emancipation Day...
MICHAEL ZAK, 4/16/2011 - DC Emancipation Day, thanks to the Republican Party "Today [April 16], the nation's capital celebrates "Emancipation Day" -- commemorating the Republican Party's abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, on April 16, 1862. ∴ That's right, the Republican Party freed the slaves in Washington, DC. It was the GOP that passed the DC Emancipation Act, despite fierce opposition from the Democrats. Of course, the Democrat mayor of DC and the Democrat president of the USA don't mention that fact.

One of the nation's leading abolitionists was Senator Henry Wilson (R-MA), who would later serve as vice president during President Grant's second term. In December 1861, Senator Wilson introduced a bill to abolish slavery in the District. The measure met with parliamentary obstacles from the pro-slavery Democratic Party.

The senator most responsible for outmaneuvering Democrat opposition was Ben Wade (R-OH). If in 1868, the racist Democrat president, Andrew Johnson, had been convicted during his impeachment trial, Senator Wade would have become president.

Overall, 99% of Republicans in Congress voted to free the slaves in the District of Columbia, while 83% of Democrats voted to keep those 3,100 African-Americans in chains.

While serving his one term in the U.S. House of Representatives, Abraham Lincoln had sponsored a bill to abolish slavery in DC. As president, he proudly signed the District of Columbia Emancipation Act, announcing "I have never doubted the constitutional authority of congress to abolish slavery in this District; and I have ever desired to see the national capital freed from the institution." Finally, it happened, thanks to Republican majorities in Congress.

Due to the fact that DC Emancipation Day is observed on April 15 this year, the federal tax filing deadline has been postponed to April 18. So, for these three extra days, we can also thank the GOP.

Here is a link to this article at Grand Old Partisan.

Michael Zak is a popular speaker to Republican organizations around the country. He is the author of Back to Basics for the Republican Party, the acclaimed history of the GOP cited by Clarence Thomas in a Supreme Court decision.

See www.grandoldpartisan.com for more information.

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Emancipation Day

TIMEANDDATE.COM/HOLIDAYS - April 16th is Emancipation Day, which is a legal holiday in the District of Columbia. It will be observed this year on Friday, April 15th in Washington DC (extending TAX DAY to Monday, April 18, 2011). Emancipation Day marks the signing of the Compensated Emancipation Act on April 16, 1862 by President Abraham Lincoln [R-IL].

Background
Formal slavery was legal from 1619 until 1865 in the area that is now the United States. Many slaves were of African origin and many slave owners were of European descent, although some other groups also had slaves. By 1860, there were about four million slaves in the United States. On April 16, 1862, Abraham Lincoln [R-IL], who was the US president at the time , signed the Compensated Emancipation Act, which freed more than 3000 slaves in the District of Columbia. However, slavery did not officially end in the rest of the United States until after the American Civil War, which lasted from 1861 until 1865.

The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution [brought forth and fought for by the Republicans] formally ended slavery in the US. It was proposed on January 31, 1865, and ratified by 30 of the then 36 states in the same year. However, it was only ratified in Mississippi in 1995. Slavery and the racial divisions, upon which it was based, have had and continue to have huge implications for individuals and American society as a whole.

Emancipation Day in Washington DC marks the anniversary of the signing of the Compensated Emancipation Act. On January 4, 2005, legislation was signed to make Emancipation Day an official public holiday in the District of Columbia. Elsewhere in the United States, the emancipation of slaves is celebrated in Florida (May 20), Puerto Rico (March 22) and Texas (June 19). [Emphasis added --bc]

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A Republican President issued the Emancipation Proclamation

"On this day in 1862, President Abraham Lincoln (R-IL) issued the Emancipation Proclamation. Effective at yearend, all slaves in Confederate-controlled territory would be "forever free." ∴ Ill-informed critics of the first Republican President Lincoln fault the Emancipation Proclamation for only freeing slaves in areas not yet under the control of the U.S. government, but -- because of the Democratic Party's resolute defense of slavery -- the federal government had the necessary authority only over so-called "property" of the rebels. ∴ Within two years, the Republican-controlled 38th Congress followed up this great advance by enacting the 13th Amendment, banning slavery throughout the nation."

Michael Zak is a popular speaker to Republican organizations around the country. Back to Basics for the Republican Party is his acclaimed history of the GOP, He is also the author of the 2005 Republican Freedom Calendar. His Grand Old Partisan website celebrates more than fifteen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Visit www.grandoldpartisan.com for more information. Read More......