Welcome, today's video is about the six  facts about Juneteenth that the government  

does not want you to understand. Now let me start  this video out by saying: There is nothing wrong  

with celebrating Juneteenth. It means a lot  to a lot of people, and I think we should  

continue the celebration. But I do believe that  everyone should know the truth about Juneteenth,  

and these facts are things that not  everyone knows. So as we go through the facts,  

remember fact number six is the most important.  So stick around to the end of the video.  

Well let's get started. First let's  start out with what is Juneteenth.  

Juneteenth is the longest celebration of freedom  for African Americans from slavery in this country.  

This is all about General Granger arriving in  Galveston Texas in June of 1865, to start the  

occupation of Texas. When he arrived, he issued  a general order to ensure that all slaves  

were set free in accordance with the Emancipation  Proclamation, and on June 19th, the slaves were  

freed in Galveston Texas. This is something  very important for the people of Galveston,  

and should always be celebrated. The first fact  that you need to understand occurred in May  

of 1861. This was right at the beginning  of the war and this occurred in Virginia,  

at Fort Monroe. See General Benjamin Butler was in  command of the Union forces for North Carolina and  

Virginia, and his headquarters was at Fortress  Monroe in May of 1861. Three slaves escaped  

and stole a boat, and rode across the river  from Norfolk Virginia to Fortress Monroe.  

They came to the gates of the fort and asked for  their freedom. Now General Butler met with these  

men, and he came up with the decision; because these  men were property of a Confederate Major, and they  

were being used against the United States to build  fortifications at Sewell's Point in Norfolk County.  

They were property being used against  the Federal Government, therefore  

they were Contraband of War, and the government  was seizing the property from the owner so that  

it could no longer be used against them in time  of war. The names of the three escaped slaves were;  

Frank Baker, James Townsend and Shepherd Mallory.  When Confederate Major John Kerry came to Fortress  

Monroe to request the return of his slaves.  He was told no, these men were being used  

against the Federal Government and therefore  Contraband of War. Well this decision had a huge  

impact on the freedom of African Americans in  Virginia. Word got out very quickly, that these  

three men had obtained their freedom at Fortress  Monroe. Then there was a stampede of people wanting  

to get their freedom, as they ran away from their  masters, and made their way to Fortress Monroe.  

Thousands of slaves were freed because  of this decision of General Butler.  

This was the beginning of what became a fight for  freedom during the Civil War, because until this  

point there was no freedom for African Americans  because the union army was attacking the south.  

This is the trial balloon, the successful  decision that made the Emancipation Proclamation  

possible. Now you may be asking the question;  what does this have to do with Juneteenth?  

Well I'm gonna get to that in just a little while.  So hang on. Now let's go move to fact number two.  

The second fact is the Confiscation Act that  was signed into law August the 6th 1861.  

In fact the exact title of this act is "An Act  to Confiscate Property Used for Insurrection  

Purposes". This act allowed the Federal  Government to seize any property  

that was being used against the Federal  Government in the war against the Union.  

This act made it legal for the government to  seize slaves that were being used against the  

Federal Government. This only increased  the number of slaves seeking freedom  

at military installations across the south.  Whenever the Union Army would get within  

reach, they could run away to the union camp, and be  freed, because they were property used against the  

Federal Government. This act made the contraband  ruling completely legal, and more binding.  

The third fact is the Emancipation Proclamation  issued by Abraham Lincoln on January the 1st  

1863. This proclamation freed all slaves in the  territories in rebellion against the United States  

with a few exceptions, that were already  under Union control. This proclamation  

gave freedom to hundreds of thousands of  African-Americans in the United States.  

The only thing that now had to be completed, is  the Union had to win the Civil War. Once again  

you might be saying to yourself; what does this  have to do with Juneteenth? Gonna get to that  

just a moment. So hang on. The fourth fact you need  to understand is; the population of Galveston Texas  

at the time the union army arrived. I looked at the  Federal Census in 1860, and it the population of  

Galveston Texas was just over 7,000 people and of  these 7,000 people, about 1,200 people were enslaved.  

That means that when the Union Army arrived in  Galveston Texas, there was only about 1,200 people  

that they could free. Now let's think about this  the decision by General Butler, on the Contraband  

of War. That, was that more important than the  1,200 or so people that were freed when the Union  

Army arrived in Galveston Texas on  Juneteenth 1865. Thousands upon thousands  

of people gained their freedom, because of this  decision by General Butler in 1861. Now let's look  

at the Confiscation Act this made General  Butler's decision legal across the United States,  

therefore also contributing to the  freedom of thousands of enslaved people.

Fact number three was the  Emancipation Proclamation.  

This was the reason that hundreds of thousands  of African Americans gained their freedom in the  

south. Now when you compare that to just over 1,200  people in Galveston Texas, which is more important.  

I'll let you decide. Now let's move on to fact  number five. Fact number five is that when the  

Union Army arrived in Galveston Texas at the  end of the war, Galveston Texas was a seaport.  

This was the entryway into Texas for the  Union Army after the war. So they freed  

just over 1,200 people in Galveston. These people  did not know that they had been set free by the  

Emancipation Proclamation, but now had their  freedom. But wait a minute, if Galveston is a  

port city, what about the rest of Texas. Well there  were over 250,000 enslaved individuals in Texas,  

and a large number of these people  did not know that they were free yet.  

So therefore there was hundreds of thousands  of enslaved people that still did not know  

they were free on Juneteenth. It took time for  the Union Army to occupy Texas after the war,  

and free all these people, who had been  freed by the Emancipation Proclamation.  

Therefore the people freed on Juneteenth  were not the last enslaved people  

to gain their freedom in Texas or the south. Now  for fact number six. This is the most important  

fact that I want you to remember, and this is one  that the government doesn't want you to understand.  

The fact is the Emancipation Proclamation and the  end of the civil war did not end slavery in the  

United States. It was still legal to own slaves  in two of the states that fought for the North.  

These two states were Delaware and Kentucky and  the slaves in Delaware and Kentucky were not  

going to get their freedom until December  of 1865. This is over five months after  

Juneteenth. What happened was the state of Georgia  ratified the 13th Amendment on December the 6th  

1865. This now gave the 13th Amendment enough  states ratifying this change in the Constitution,  

to make it part of the Constitution. Then on  December 18th the Federal Government recognized  

the ratification of the 13th Amendment to the  Constitution, and it became American law for  

all states. Therefore the state of Delaware  and the state of Kentucky were forced to free  

their slaves as a result of the 13th  amendment. So why did the Federal Government  

choose to celebrate Juneteenth instead of the  actual day when slavery ended in the United States?  

Why didn't they choose December 18th to  be the celebration of the end of slavery?  

Well it comes down to a very simple fact. The  narrative they want you to know is; the North  

was good and the South was bad. This is not true.  Slavery's last stronghold in the United States  

took place in the states that fought for the  North, but this ruins the narrative. It ruins  

the narrative that the South is bad. That the  Confederates were the last holdout for slavery.  

In fact it was states in the North  that were the last holdout for slavery.  

Now I believe we should celebrate the end  of slavery, and in my opinion December 18th  

is much more important than Juneteenth, but I  don't think the federal government will ever  

recognize the end of slavery as a national holiday.  Well I'll let you make your own decisions about  

what should be the true celebration for the end  of slavery. Now I can't end any video about slavery  

without saying that slavery still exists in  the United States. It's called human trafficking.  

It's illegal and we need to fight it. We need  to make sure that our representatives in the  

government are doing all they can to end this  terrible practice, to help the victims, and help  

them gain their freedom. So if you hate slavery  stand up and help end human trafficking. Thank you.