Thread by @GarfieldNPS

Today is #Juneteenth, a holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States.

Related words from James A. Garfield…

“We began the war for the Union alone, but we had not gone far into its darkness before a new element was added to the conflict...In lessons that

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could not be misunderstood, the Nation was taught that God had linked to our own, the destiny of an enslaved race-that their liberty & our Union were indeed 'one & inseparable'...The soil beneath our feet was watered by the tears of slaves, in whose hearts the sight of

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yonder proud Capitol awakened no pride and inspired no hope. But, thanks be to God, this arena of rebellion and slavery is a scene of violence and crime no longer!" ~1868 in @ArlingtonNatl.

“Soon after the great struggle began, we looked behind the army of white rebels, and

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saw 4,000,000 of black people condemned to toil as slaves for our enemies; & we found that the hearts of these 4,000,000 were God-inspired with the spirit of Liberty, and that they were all our friends. We have seen white men betray the flag & fight to kill the Union;

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but in all that long and dreary war we never saw a traitor in a black skin...In all that period of suffering & danger, no Union soldier was ever betrayed by a black man or woman. And now that we have made them free, so long as we live we will stand by these black allies.

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We will stand by them until the sun of liberty, fixed in the firmament of our Constitution, shall shine with equal ray upon every man, black or white, throughout the Union.” ~1880, New York City.

#Juneteenth #jamesagarfield #jamesagarfieldnhs #slavery #emancipation

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