Jitss617
Diamond Member
- Jan 2, 2019
- 39,095
- 9,330
It is sad to see such ignorance of history. Up until a few days ago, most Americans black or white, had never heard of Juneteenth. Juneteenth- June 19, 1865 did not end slavery in the U.S.-just in the Confederate states. There were four slave states that remained in the Union-Maryland, Delaware, Kentucky, and Missouri with a slave population of approximately 500,000. They were not freed until the passing of the 13th Amendment which was declared ratified December 18, 1865. Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation was issued in September 1862. and it applied to the state that were members of the Confederacy, It only freed slaves that came under Union control. June 19, 1865 Union soldiers under the command of General Gordan Granger went into Galveston and he issued Order Number 3 which began with:
"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 rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection therefore existing between them becomes that between employer and free laborer."
It is certainly a day worth celebrating especially in Galveston but it isn't the day that slavery ended in the United States.
"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 rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection therefore existing between them becomes that between employer and free laborer."
It is certainly a day worth celebrating especially in Galveston but it isn't the day that slavery ended in the United States.