On Frederick Douglass, the Declaration of Independence, and Juneteenth

Lucas Morel and Jonathan White channel the insight and vision of Frederick Douglass.

Today is Juneteenth. The most recently recognized federal holiday (formalized in 2021 as Juneteenth National Independence Day), Juneteenth recognizes the freeing of enslaved people in Texas at the end of the Civil War.

In today's Wall Street Journal, Lucas Morel and Jonathan White write on the day's significance:

Juneteenth joined Independence Day as a federal holiday in 2021, celebrating the day the Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves in the outer reaches of rebel-held territory. Critics of Lincoln's proclamation—now as then—say it was ineffective because it took so long to be enforced. Yet Frederick Douglass, who devoted his life to freedom for black Americans, understood that paper declarations sowed the seeds of a more perfect union.

On June 19, 1865, Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger declared at Galveston, Texas, that "all slaves are free" by virtue of Lincoln's edict dated Jan. 1, 1863. It took more than two years to make the promise of freedom a reality.

As Morel and White note, Frederick Douglass saw the Declaration of Independence as a commitment to individual liberty and human dignity that would be fulfilled over time. In the same way, the Emancipation Proclamation was issued in 1863, but not given full effect throughout the southern states until the end of the war in 1865 (and slavery would not be wholly eradicated under U.S. law until ratification of the 13th Amendment).

They write:

Although Douglass disagreed with Lincoln about the timing and rationale of emancipation, he predicted that Lincoln's proclamation would stand as "the greatest event of our nation's history, if not the greatest event of the century," placing "the North on the side of justice and civilization, and the rebels on the side of robbery and barbarism." Douglass and Lincoln alike clearly took inspiration from the Declaration of Independence—America's first Emancipation Proclamation. Both were committed to realizing the promises of 1776, nearly a century later.

Juneteenth and Independence Day honor the struggle of an imperfect people on an imperfect path to freedom and equality. American history—"a heap of Juneteenths," in the words of Ralph Ellison—can be read as one journey, full of setbacks and triumphs, toward realizing the truths of the Declaration of Independence. That "ink and paper proclamation," nearly 250 years old, established a way of life that remains, in Lincoln's words, "the last best hope of earth."

Of additional note, Morel and White have a forthcoming volume of Douglass's writings on Abraham Lincoln. I very much look forward to reading it.