As most everyone knows, Juneteenth Day is a National Holiday in the United States. It is a day that is celebrated today on June 19. It is supposed to be a day to commemorate the emancipation of slaves in the United States. From what I gather, even though I'd never heard of it until it was made into a National Holiday, supposedly it's been a day that many Black Americans have called "Black Independence Day," "Emancipation Day," "Jubilee Day," "Juneteenth Independence Day," and even "Juneteenth National Independence Day." Yes, in reality, it was a day celebrated in Texas and not very many other places to my knowledge.
Why Texas you ask? Well, on September 22nd, 1862, with the Civil War raging, Republican President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. The Emancipation Proclamation went into effect on January 1, 1863. It declared slaves living in the Confederate states to be free.
So again, why Texas you ask? That has to do with how the news of the Emancipation Proclamation spread and where it spread to.
So how did the word spread that the Emancipation Proclamation was issued, and that slaves in Confederate states were freed? Well, it is said that news of President Lincoln's proclamation relied mostly on the advance of Union troops during the Civil War.
Because Texas was the most remote Confederate state at the time, the folks there were among the last to get the news about the proclamation. Supposedly, as the legend goes, it took more than two years for news of the Emancipation Proclamation to reach the state of Texas. And frankly, that didn't happen until Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, on June 19th, 1865. That was the day that the people in state of Texas were informed that slavery had been abolished in Confederate states. It happened to be the same day the folks in Texas were told that the war had ended.
Legend says that the free slaves in Galveston, Texas, immediately began to celebrate with song and dance. Since that was one of the last places to get the news of the proclamation, June 19th is now celebrated as a Fedearl Holiday. It's official name is Juneteenth National Independence Day.
While Juneteenth is now seen as the "National Independence Day" for some, I will always refer to July 4th as America's National Independence Day.
After all, the 4th of July is the day that we Americans commemorate the Declaration of Independence, which was ratified by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776. It is that day when Americans put everything on the line to establish our great nation, the United States of America. And yes, it is a day when we remember how thousands of Americans died to establish our freedoms.
Now, before someone writes to tell me that there is nothing wrong with Black Americans having their own separate Independence Day from the rest of America, the only question that I have is why descendants of slaves, whether they are African slaves or Irish slaves or Chinese slaves, celebrate the start of their freedom on the day the proclamation was read instead of on the day it was issued.
I cannot understood why June 19th is celebrated as "Black Independence Day," "Emancipation Day," "Jubilee Day," "Juneteenth Independence Day," and even "Juneteenth National Independence Day" by Black Americans -- when in reality, September 22nd was the day when President Lincoln freed the slaves in Confederate states? Of course, the answer to that question is something that I will never understand.
Tom Correa
Call me Jack. I'm from Texas.
ReplyDeleteNews traveled slowly back then, as you noted. More than a month after General Lee's surrender of the Army of Virginia, We fought the Union Army one last time at Palmito Ranch, near Brownsville, Tx, the last pitched battle of the late unpleasantness. You have done well in your account, noting the slowness of information.
Other states of the South can celebrate their emancipation dates earlier than June, they were, largely, occupied and surrendered earlier. It was a Texas celebration, unofficially, and spread to other states because in Texas it was a celebration, and who doesn't want a celebration?
That it became a National Holiday seems odd, because on June 30th, there was still slavery officially practiced in four States: Maryland, Delaware, Kentucky, and Missouri. This continued until October and the ratification of the 13th Amendment.
Maybe October is too cold for a good holiday?
But there I go, shooting from the hip, again.
Hello, Jack. Nice to see ya. And you're right. News DID travel fast in those days! For example, in April of 1865, when President Abraham Lincoln was shot, it took about an hour for everybody else outside of Washington D.C. to hear the news. Some rejoiced while others mourned. And then in June of 1865, the Lone Star State of Texas freed the last of its slaves on the 19th. No other Confederate state besides Florida was more devastated after the American Civil War than Texas. In the twelve years of Reconstruction from 1865 to 1877, there were many reprisals between ex-Union and ex-Confederate men. Veterans who couldn't let go of their bitter animosities. Their chilling hostilities towards one another resulted in the loss of many lives and the destruction of many homes. Those who were considered war criminals were barred from voting, serving on a jury, or even holding public office. But still, many of them got to keep their guns. June 19, 1865, was a good day for the former slaves but a bad one for their former owners. I plan on making a movie about this pretty soon in the near future called, "Once A Traitor". It will tell the story of Monroe Pickens, a Confederate veteran of the Civil War who, in 1877, tells his side of the story of what HE did only 12 years earlier when he was forced to turn on his own people. The trailer opens up like this. "They said I was wrong to do it. But I thought it was right." I hope you come to see it once it's released. And by the way, Jack, you're always welcome here at the Biltmore Ranch AND at the American Cowboy Chronicles. So from Tom and everyone else here, this is Benny Bence, AKA Arizona Colt, reminding you to keep your guns on an empty chamber, keep your powder dry, don't pet the rattlesnakes, and one more thing, as Kinky Friedman, the great Texas singer-songwriter once said, "Get your biscuits in the oven and your buns in the bed". Bye for now. See ya soon.
ReplyDelete