February 1st 1865 was the day that Abraham Lincoln signed the 13th Amendment in the United States which outlawed slavery, though it was not ratified until December 18 later that year. It read, ‘Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment of a crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or ant place subject to their jurisdiction,’
On June 30 1948 President Harry Truman signed a bill proclaiming February 1st as the First official National Freedom Day in the United States. But instead of heaping praise on them, we choose to honour a former slave by the name of Major Robert Wright, Snr who was the one that actually said this day needed to be celebrated.
