Details Written by State Department
Washington, DC - Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State: Today marks National Freedom Day, a day that commemorates President Abraham Lincoln’s signing of the joint resolution that established the Constitution’s 13th Amendment abolishing slavery in the United States. It is a day when, thanks to the decades-long push of Richard R. Wright and his fellow civil rights advocates, we commemorate our dedication to the ideal of freedom for all. National Freedom Day also marks the culmination of National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month. More than 150 years after President Lincoln’s promise of freedom, an estimated 24.9 million individuals around the world are exploited by human traffickers. Our nation struggles to overcome the consequences of both the trans-Atlantic slave trade and the ensuing campaigns of oppression against newly freed people and their descendants.