A dangerous consequence of not knowing our history is not knowing our truth.

Many Americans are taught that the Emancipation Proclamation, signed by President Abraham Lincoln on Jan. 1, 1863, freed all enslaved people in the U.S. Others are told that enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, were the last to be freed two years later, in June 1865. But neither of these popular beliefs is entirely true.

In the Southern U.S., Confederate flags still wave, upheld by the belief that the Civil War was fought over “states’ rights.” The truth? The war was largely about slavery — economically, politically and socially. The Southern economy thrived on the labor of enslaved people, and the Confederacy fought to preserve that system.

On Feb. 8, 1861, seven Southern states — South Carolina, Mississippi,

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