By THOMAS L. KRANNAWITTER, PH.D. | Liberty Lyceum
What is now officially Memorial Day used to be called Decoration Day, a uniquely American holiday born from the ashes of the America War.
The American Civil War raged from 1861 to 1865. The results included death, destruction, and devastation of every kind on scales that had never been witnessed before.
After the fires were put out and the dead were buried, veterans who survived the war and other citizens wanted to honor and express appreciation for their fellow citizens who had given “the last full measure of devotion,” in the memorable words Abraham Lincoln spoke at Gettysburg.
This included newly-freed former slaves, some of whom were freed by Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, all of whom were freed by the 13th Amendment, what Lincoln referred to as the “king’s card,” a way to abolish slavery in the United States, permanently, without risk of some future Democratic President overturning or reversing it via mere Executive Order.
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