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CLAIM: Bill Nye, the “Science Guy,” claimed in a recent tweet that the last slaves weren’t officially freed until June 19, 1865, or on “Juneteenth.”
VERDICT: FALSE. The last slaves were freed upon the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery and other forms of involuntary servitude throughout the U.S. The ratification took place December 6, 1865.
President Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves in the Confederacy with the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. But the proclamation didn’t apply to slaves in border states, which Lincoln didn’t want to alienate in the midst of the Civil War.
“Juneteenth” — June 19, 1865 — marks the day that slaves in Texas were freed under an order by Union Army general Gordon Granger. President Joe Biden made the day a federal holiday starting in 2021.
Nye has not updated or deleted his tweet as of midday Monday despite numerous replies pointing out his glaring error.