On June 19, 1865, a bearded man from New York, with a force of 2,000 Union troops, arrived to Galveston, Texas and issued General Order number 3. It later would become one of the most famous orders given in American history. It freed the last of those held in slavery. From that point, no one in the country would be allowed to own slaves. The man who issued that order was Union Major General Gordon Granger.
General Order 3, issued by Granger, would become the most committed order for the equality for Black Americans until the Civil Rights Acts of the 1960s. It offered Blacks more equality than the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and the Thirteenth Amendment that came at the end of 1865.
General Order 3 reads as follows:
The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor.
The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.
By order of Major General Granger
F.W. Emery
Major A.A. Genl.
Emancipation Proclamation myth:
There are a lot of myths pertaining to Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation and the end of slavery and how it pertains to Juneteenth. When Lincoln issued the Proclamation on January 1st, 1863, most, if not all, the Slaves were not freed on that date. Lincoln issued it in the hopes that Slaves would escape and join the Union. It was more a wartime edict. Most Southern whites simply ignored it and continued to own Slaves.
The end of the Civil War at Appomattox:
In the beginning of 1865, Confederate General Robert E. Lee could no longer sustain the fighting. Most of the industrial might was in Northern states. Newly cemented Union General Ulysses S. Grant proved to be a relentless General who cornered Lee in Virginia. Lee finally made the decision to surrender on April 9, 1865 at the Appomattox courthouse in Virginia. At that moment, all Slaves were freed based on Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation two-years earlier.
The problem, during those days there were no mass communication systems like we have today. Slaves were made aware once Reconstruction started, which was immediately after Lee’s surrender or by people who fought in the war. In faraway Texas, they had no idea the war ended or they told their Slaves that the South won. One things tyrants do is keep information away from those they want to control. Most Slaves were never taught to read or write, so could not find out by news reports. Many Slaves did have their own communication networks amongst each other and found out, but with no power of government, they could not do anything but continue to toil away in bondage.
Maj Gen Granger enroute to Texas:
Granger was assigned to be in charge of the Reconstruction of Texas. He set out to ride his horse with his men to Texas. That took from April 9, 1965 until June 19, 1865. As most other Slaves were freed, the Slaves in Texas were not until Granger arrived. That is why we celebrate June 19th as Juneteenth. The last Slaves were not freed until that date.
Has been celebrated long before it became a holiday:
There was a law in the South that if you owned Slaves you were responsible for clothing them. Of course, as many viewed Slaves as less than human, the clothes were cheap fabric that was hot and constantly made them itch. Once they were freed they immediately got rid of those clothes for some they chose. Part of the Juneteenth celebrations is to wear diverse clothing sets of good fabric as a way of showing independence.
The first year after June 19th, 1865, former Slaves celebrated it as a holiday. It has continued as a tradition to their descendants. After the George Floyd murder, more Americans began to become aware of how history and the present day have direct effects with each other. It made it to President Joe Biden, who made Juneteenth a federal American holiday.
Of course, as we all know, the fight for equality did not end on June 19th, 1865. So called Black Codes got implemented, which severely limited the freedoms of Black Americans and led the way to Jim Crow Laws and Segregation. The Southern States were not willing to led their loss in the war go and give full freedoms to those they enslaved. This legacy still is with us today. However, June 19th, 1865 was a first step in giving true meaning to the words Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence.
https://seattlemedium.com/gen-gordon-granger-the-man-behind-the-juneteenth-message-of-freedom/
https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/appomattox-court-house
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emancipation_Proclamation
https://time.com/6188864/general-order-3-juneteenth/
https://news.yahoo.com/7-ways-celebrate-juneteenth-204034223.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall
