-By Michael Zak
Republicans should not allow Barack Obama to grab from away our Grand Old Party the legacy of the Great Emancipator.
On this day in 1862, President Abraham Lincoln (R-IL) issued the Emancipation Proclamation. Effective at yearend, all slaves in Confederate-controlled territory would be “forever free.”
Ill-informed critics of the first Republican President fault the Emancipation Proclamation for only freeing slaves in areas not yet under the control of the U.S. government, but — because of the Democratic Party’s resolute defense of slavery — the federal government had the necessary authority only over so-called “property” of the rebels.
Within two years, the Republican-controlled 38th Congress followed up this great advance by enacting the 13th Amendment, banning slavery throughout the nation.
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Michael Zak is a popular speaker to Republican organizations around the nation, showing office-holders and candidates and activists how they would benefit tremendously from appreciating the heritage of our Grand Old Party. Back to Basics for the Republican Party is his acclaimed history of the GOP, cited by Clarence Thomas in a Supreme Court decision. His Grand Old Partisan blog celebrates more than fifteen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. See www.RepublicanBasics.com for more information.