Check out This Day in History for Dec. 18, in MainStream’s daily look at significant progressive, intersectional historical events.
1777: The first-ever national Thanksgiving takes place under an order from President George Washington, at a time when America’s 13 states faced ongoing challenges from the British.
1786: More than a dozen Native American tribes issue “A Call for Unity & Peace,” seeking peaceful coexistence with white settlers following the Revolutionary War. The Native American leaders also expressed disappointment at being excluded from negotiations with the British. The white settlers’ conquests continued.
Above, Santhi Soundarajan; Vladimir Putin with Donald Trump in 2019; The Rainbow/PUSH organization at a rally; and protests against Don’t Ask Don’t Tell a few months before its repeal.
1865: Slavery is said to be abolished with the enactment of the 13th amendment to the U.S. Constitution. While Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation was supposed to have formally freed 3 million slaves in the Confederate States two years earlier, this proclamation solidified this change in law. It was a long time coming: the Senate passed the amendment in 1864, and the U.S. House in early 1865. Georgia was the 37th state to ratify the amendment, enabling it to become law in December. The civil rights of Black American continued to be threatened and often denied for centuries to come.
1917: The era of Prohibition begins when Congress passes the 18th Amendment banning the sale or consumption of alcohol.. Over the coming 14 years, organized crime will explode over black markets for alcohol. In 1933, the 18th becomes the only constitutional amendment repealed in 1933.
1971: Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson founds Rainbow/PUSH, a social justice and civil rights advocacy organization in Chicago. Originally called Operation PUSH and focusing on Black self-empowerment, the Rainbow name is added to represent a hope for a multiethnic movement.
1999: Julia Butterfly Hill ends her 738-day protest of living in a 1,000-year-old redwood tree (named Luna) prevent its removal and take a stand against clear-cutting. being cut down. Hill endured frostbite and heavy helicopter flyovers during her nearly two years in the tree, which still stands today.The agreement for her to leave saved all other trees in a 200-foot radius, too.
2006: Intersex athlete Santhi Soundarajan is stripped of her Asian Games silver track medal after failing a “sex verification test.” Soundarajan has Androgen insensitivity syndrome, which causes a male body to develop partially or fully like a female body. She suffered shame and ostracization for the revelation of her condition and loss of the medal, but now trains other athletes.
2010: Congress abolishes Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, the military policy that barred gay and bisexual people from openly serving. The policy was enacted by former President Bill Clinton in 1993; while he said at the time it was intended to reduce active discrimination, it labelled homosexuality “an unacceptable risk to the high standards of morale, good order and discipline…”
2011: The last 500 US troops withdraw from Iraq, marking the official end of the Iraq War, which lasted more than eight years and claimed more than 4,500 U.S. service members, 3,500 private contractors, and over 100,000 Iraqi civilians. Military contractors would remain in Iraq until the U.S. returns thousands of troops to aid counter-terrorism efforts. Over 2,000 American service members remain in Iraq today
2018: Nevada becomes the first U.S. state with a female-majority legislature after Democrats Rochelle Nguyen and Beatrice Duran are appointed. Nevada also has the highest percentage of female lawmakers of any state (47.6%), a majority state Supreme Court, and both of its U.S. senators are females. Overall, 60% of lawmakers in the state are female today.
2019: U.S. President Donald Trump is impeached for the first time by the U.S. House of Representatives, for alleged abuse of power and obstruction of Congress over soliciting Russian aid in his re-election and ordering officials to ignore a Congressional subpoena for documents and testimony. The vote followed along party lines, with no Republicans voting to impeach and nearly all Democrats voting in favor. The Republican-led Senate acquits Trump in February of 2020, also along party lines.
2023: Pope Francis allows priests to bless same-sex couples in a papal document, but stops short of allowing recognition of same-sex marriage. While openly against same-sex marriage, the document stresses Francis’ opinion that all should be able to be blessed by the church.
Photos courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
