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February Marks 145th Anniversary of Abolishment of Slavery - Html View
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<h1>February Marks 145th Anniversary of Abolishment of Slavery</h1> As America approaches the 145th anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln signing the 13th Amendment to the Constitution - the act that not only freed the slaves but also made slave ownership perpetually illegal in America - Frank Meredith wants to shine a little perspective on the celebration.<br /> <br /> "On one hand, we can't ignore that we've gone from the enslavement of African Americans to now having an African American president," said Meredith, author of the Civil War novel The Unfinished Work from Savannah Books (<a href="http://www.theunfinishedwork.com">www.theunfinishedwork.com</a>). "What many people don't realize, however, is that the 13th Amendment - while changing the law - did not change the attitudes of most Americans. The majority of Americans did not hail the signing of the 13th Amendment as a victory, and most did little or nothing to help the newly freed slaves assimilate into the population of free people."<br /> <br /> Meredith added that many perceptions of the views of Northerners and Southerners during the Civil War simply aren't based in reality.<br /> <br /> "Most people think all Southerners were pro-slavery, but 2/3 of the Confederate soldiers never owned slaves," he said. "And Northerners' views towards black people were not much different from Southerners. To the bulk of the population, slavery back then was less about race relations - which not that many people cared about - than it was about business. President Lincoln's emancipation of the slaves was not widely revered."<br /> <br /> In fact, the founding fathers initially attempted to abolish slavery with the writing of the Constitution, but the pressure to maintain the status quo overwhelmed those efforts, according to Meredith.<br /> <br /> "That's the reason I called my book The Unfinished Work," he said. "It's a line from the Gettysburg Address that President Lincoln uses to refer to the unfinished work of the founding fathers, who had intended to outlaw slavery from the very beginning of our country."<br /> <br /> In at least one way, Meredith believes that there is a direct parallel between the 145th anniversary of the 13th Amendment's signing and the day it was signed back in 1865.<br /> <br /> "The signing was a milestone, but it didn't change opinions," he said. "While the moral basis for the 13th Amendment was sound, it didn't necessarily reflect the idea that most Americans were behind the act. The election of President Barack Obama was very similar. While it was a great milepost for race relations - and it is the ultimate expression of America as the melting pot of world cultures and ethnicities - there are still reminders that not everyone is of one accord. We have come a long way with race relations since the 100th anniversary of the 13th Amendment in 1965, but just because we have a black president now doesn't mean there isn't work left to do. Hate and bigotry still live. There are still people out there who don't like President Obama, not because of his politics, but because of the color of his skin. <br /> <br /> "Achieving freedom for all while esteeming each other as equals is humankind's unfinished work. And that work requires each and every one of us to examine our hearts and minds, and then do our part to treat each other with the dignity and respect we all desire." -- <b>About the Author</b> Tony Panaccio is a staff writer at News & Experts.
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