This Day in History

This day in history, December 25, 1862. Nathaniel "Nat" West, a freed slave living in Vermont traveled to Washington D.C. to attend a speech given by President Abraham Lincoln. West, who was clearly the first in a great line of douchebags that would span generations, became agitated expecting the President to announce his plans to free all slaves. When Lincoln did not, West calmly walked on stage to address the crowd gathered, saying, "I'll let you finish in a minute and I know you be the President and all but, James Buchanan would have done freed all the slaves by now. He was the best President of all-time". What West did not know is that just one week later Lincoln would make law "The Emancipation Proclamation", which he had been working on for 6 months. West's outburst almost swayed Lincoln's decision to free the slaves. Dr. James MacDonald, professor of History at GFNU states, "Lincoln was visibly upset over the Nat West incident. It was said that Lincoln almost threw out The Emancipation Proclamation thinking if all Negros acted like that when they were free, then we might as well keep them chained." But, Lincoln did keep his promise of freeing all slaves in the U.S. despite West. While Lincoln went on to become one of the greatest Presidents in our history, West enlisted in the Army and was sent to the frontlines to fight in the war. After his Commanding Officer became annoyed with him, he was left behind by his brigade in the middle of the night as he slept.He was then captured by Confederate troops in June of 1863, sent to Georgia and was made a slave...again! He was killed by his owner after interupting one too many times, but not before getting his wife pregnant so that we could all feel his pain over 100 years later through the voice of his Great-Great-Great Granchild, Kanye West.