At the stroke of midnight on January 1, 1863, prayers were answered as enslaved persons held in now defeated confederate states which had previously seceded from the union, were declared legally free. Note that four slave holding states did not secede from the Union; Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland and Missouri.
On New Years Day 1863, Union soldiers, many of whom were Black, began marching onto plantations and across cities throughout the south notifying other Blacks being held in captivity and against their will, that they were free, demonstrating also their participation in the hard-fought war for their freedom and that of their brethren. How powerful is that visual? Thank you, Dr. Greg Carr for planting the perception.
Not all enslaved in confederate territories, however, would immediately receive news of their freedom. Despite announcement of the Proclamation of Emancipation 2½ years earlier, many enslavers continued to hold Black people in captivity after January 1, 1863. Freedom came for them on June 19, 1865, when some 2,000 Union troops, led by Major General Gordon Granger, arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas and announced to more than 250,000 Black people still enslaved there, that they were free. This historic day came to be known and celebrated as Juneteenth.
Reconstruction (1865- 1877), a the post-civil war (1861 - 1865) period following emancipation, was a time of integration, if you will, reintegrating southern states back into the Union while at the same time abolishing the diabolical and inhumane institution of slavery, ending rights to ownership of one human being by another, thereby granting freedom to FOUR MILLION formerly enslaved Black people, simultaneously integrating them as freed persons, no longer property, but persons free to live of their own will in the south or any other part of the Union. Newly freed Black people immediately began searching to reunite families mercilessly separated during the height of cruelty and inhumanity of slavery.
Black men were granted the right to vote even before white women, much to their chagrin. Given the right to vote, more than 2,000 Black men were elected and held political office, to include two Senators, Hiram Revels and Blanche Bruce, 1870 and 1875 respectively, representing the state of Mississippi in the US Senate, a coveted political office not to be held again by a Black man until the 1967 election of Senator Edward Brooke in the state of Massachusetts.
Black politicians played a vital role in influencing just legislation for all, as would later be implied as part of the American Pledge of Allegiance written in 1892, pledging a right to all Americans of freedom and justice for all. More importantly, these Black politicians were situated to shape post-civil war public policy as well as empowered to transform not only their lives but also that and the relevance of the Black community at large politically, socially, and economically. Surely, these newly freed Black gentlemen would have voted as a block.
Although a time of uncertainty and struggle for the nation, Reconstruction was an era of pride, hope, and unprecedented will and determination and heretofore unfathomable achievements for formerly enslaved persons who were succeeding despite tremendous odds stacked against them following 400 years of chattel slavery. Newly freed Blacks, previously valued and insured not as persons but as property, studied and embraced citizenry, established schools and businesses and were well on their way to creating thriving and self-sufficient communities, some are said to have even sued slaveholders for damages transgressions against them.
Great strides being realized in the Black community terrified whites, especially in the south, who, given the abolition of slavery, lost substantial political power in the face of freedom granted to 4 million Blacks all across the south, many who could and who surely would vote. Reconstruction was therefore a very short-lived and rarely taught, period in America's sordid history, 1865 – 1877.
Juneteenth, a name derived from a blend of the words June and nineteenth, represents June 19, 1865, the actual day of freedom for Blacks in the state of Texas. The holiday is also known as “Freedom Day”, “Jubilee Day”, “Black Independence Day”, “Emancipation Day", to name a few and also serves to commemorate the end of enslavement of Black Americans in the United States.
Juneteenth represents a time to gather as a family and in community, reflect on the past and look to the future in celebration of African American achievements. It is a time to honor African American Ancestors who sacrificed and who have gone before us. It is a time to share African American history, culture and traditions, enjoy African American food, music, and spirited gatherings driven by camaraderie, religion, shared and unspoken, "knowings", but most importantly, it is a time to be reminded of a relentless pursuit of freedom, justice and equality which continues at the core of African American community and experience in the US.
Although the freedom of Blacks enslaved in Texas has long been celebrated in many African American communities, especially in the US west, this monumental event did not become known to many Americans until 2021 when President Joe Biden declared it a nationally recognized federal holiday.
For many, Juneteenth marks America’s second Independence Day in accordance with Dr. Greg Carr, who says celebration of the day represents "When the 4th of July meets Kwanzaa!"
Break the Chains of Cruelty
Break the Chains of Mental Slavery!
Note: Sources of this information is extracted from various sites (i.e. National Museum of African American History & Culture at the Smithsonian, The History Channel, In Class with Dr. Carr (and Karen Hunter). Be inspired to research, learn, and share your data with others, especially our youth in the spirit of growing and community! ~ Miss Higgi
