Yes, Republicans freed the slaves. They were NOT these Republicans.
(CNN)Republicans tried to claim their political ancestors at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday night, casting back to Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican President, to argue they deserve more credit from Black voters.
The problem is that the Republicans and the politics of 1860 bear almost zero resemblance to the Republicans of today.
Back then, Republicans were, generally, a party of Northerners and Democrats were, generally, the party of the South.
Today, it's pretty much the opposite.
Back then, a Republican President, Lincoln, tried to hold the union together after Southern states, led by Democrats, seceded.
Today, it's a Republican President, Donald Trump, who has changed his allegiance to a Southern state, Florida, and is appealing to nostalgia for the Confederacy and stoking racial divisions, not trying to end them or get past them.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/27/politics/what-matters-august-26/index.html