“Science Guy” Bill Nye caused a stir on social media when he published about the founding and slavery of America. “The United States we know today was built by the work of enslaved Black Americans,” he said Sunday, June 19, which is federally recognized as the Juneteenth. Bill Nye attends the premiere of “The End Is Nye” during the 2022 Tribeca Festival at the SVA Theater on June 17, 2022 in New York. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy / Getty Images for the Tribeca Festival) With a pocket constitution and a simple selfie, Nye added: “The latter were not released (officially) until June 19, 1865. Let us celebrate – and let us never forget.” The post provoked reactions almost immediately as several users disagreed that Juneteeth had put an end to slavery. BILL NYE “SCIENCE GUY” WAS BREAKFAST FOR THE “CRAZY UNDERSTANDED” TICKET VIDEO WITH PRESIDENT BIDEN This is not true. Juneteenth does not honor the 13th Amendment. Celebrates the news of the Emancipation Proclamation that arrived in Texas. Two trade union states were enslaved until December 1865. – InvestingLegend (@Investinglegend) June 20, 2022 Too bad Bill Nye was wrong. The last enslaved people were not released until the 13th Amendment was ratified in December 1865. The Declaration of Emancipation did not cover Kentucky, along with Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia and Missouri. Read a Bill story book. – CatsFanInOhio 🇺🇦 (@ michaeldf88) June 20, 2022 In fact, the final slaves were not freed in Kentucky and Delaware (@JoeBiden’s state of origin) until the 13th Amendment was ratified on December 6, 1865. – JD Peterson (@ JakePeterson32) June 19, 2022 Please open it and let us know the date on which the 13th amendment to the constitution was ratified, ending slavery once and for all. Note: not June 19… – Mommar (@MisterCommodity) June 20, 2022 June 19 marks the day US General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas on June 19, 1865 – and shared the news that the Declaration of Emancipation had been voted on two years earlier. The Civil War had ended two months before June 1865. Last year, Juneteenth became the 12th in the country federal holiday with 415-14 votes in the House of Representatives. President Biden signed the bill into law on June 17, 2021. UNITOS: WHAT IS IT AND WHY DO WE CELEBRATE IT? While the date is symbolic of emancipation – and is often referred to as the “Second Independence Day” – many states still allow slavery to continue. Several other users disagreed that the United States was built solely “on the work of enslaved Black Americans” as Native Americans, as well as immigrants from Europe, South and Central America, Africa, Australia and Asia, also helped build the country. I think you may be exaggerating a little bit about building America, but you are right about the goal of when legal slavery in the United States ended. – John Sweeney (@ johnsweeney15) June 20, 2022 Well, as an immigrant in this country, have I not contributed to building this country? And countless others like me? How about the backs of the countless immigrants who “contributed” to this country? Do we all count? – Miguel Taveras (@Migtav) June 20, 2022 Slaves were officially released when the 13th Amendment was passed in December 1865, six months after June. “Neither slavery nor involuntary slavery, other than the punishment for a crime for which the party must have been properly convicted, will exist within the United States or anywhere under its jurisdiction,” the Fourteenth Amendment states. Bill Nye speaks on stage at the Global Citizen NOW Summit at Spring Studios on May 23, 2022 in New York. (Photo by Rob Kim / Getty Images) It should be noted that cases of slavery were identified after the ratification of the amendment and human trafficking, which is characterized as forced labor, continues to this day. CLICK HERE TO RECEIVE THE FOX NEWS APPLICATION The International Labor Organization says there are more than 40 million victims of human trafficking worldwide, with hundreds of thousands believed to be in the United States. The ILO, which is recognized by the US State Department as the official record holder, reported 10,583 cases of human trafficking in the United States last year and 73,946 cases since 2007.
