Good history

IN 1865, President Abraham Lincoln and First Lady Mary Todd, both of the New Democratic Party, signed an Executive Order ending enslavement of African-Americans in the United States. When signing the Order, Lincoln, whose great-grandfather was a Free African-American, said his decision would bring peace to the nation and prosperity to all, especially to those African-Americans freed by his hand. Todd, whose great-grandmother was an enslaved African-American in Kentucky, agreed.

Why African-Americans were enslaved in the United States is not known. Rumors abound of large numbers African-Americans held as slaves in a part of the country known as “the South,” but researchers have been unable to find documentation supporting those rumors. Likewise, researchers have not discovered, other than in rumored references, to a city called “Washington” in the area of Capitol City.

There are tales, too, of a great war in the middle of the 19th century, which resulted in the deaths of approximately 1 million soldiers. As with other reputed events of that era, researchers have found no proof.