1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,960 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:07,560 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hi, I'm Eves and Welcome to This Day 3 00:00:07,600 --> 00:00:11,479 Speaker 1: and History Class, a show that on covers history one 4 00:00:11,560 --> 00:00:23,919 Speaker 1: day at a time. Today is June nineteen nineteen. The 5 00:00:24,040 --> 00:00:30,760 Speaker 1: day was June nine, eighteen sixty. Union soldiers were in Galveston, Texas, 6 00:00:31,160 --> 00:00:33,760 Speaker 1: a state where the presence of Union troops was low 7 00:00:34,120 --> 00:00:39,159 Speaker 1: and thousands of people remained enslaved. The Emancipation Proclamation went 8 00:00:39,200 --> 00:00:43,720 Speaker 1: into effect two years prior, outlawing slavery in the Confederate States, 9 00:00:44,760 --> 00:00:48,559 Speaker 1: but Texas was isolated and the proclamation was not enforced 10 00:00:48,600 --> 00:00:52,639 Speaker 1: in the state when it was not outright challenged. So 11 00:00:52,680 --> 00:00:55,960 Speaker 1: on this day, Major General Gordon Granger announced to the 12 00:00:55,960 --> 00:01:01,200 Speaker 1: people of Texas the emancipation of enslaved people. June nineteenth 13 00:01:01,400 --> 00:01:04,880 Speaker 1: is now recognized as an Independence Day and marked by 14 00:01:04,920 --> 00:01:10,120 Speaker 1: celebrations that honor Black Americans freedom from slavery. On September 15 00:01:10,880 --> 00:01:13,880 Speaker 1: eighteen sixty two, a year after the start of the 16 00:01:13,959 --> 00:01:16,960 Speaker 1: U s Civil War and centuries after the first Africans 17 00:01:16,959 --> 00:01:20,920 Speaker 1: were enslaved in the modern United States, President Abraham Lincoln 18 00:01:20,959 --> 00:01:26,200 Speaker 1: issued the Emancipation Proclamation. The proclamation said that all enslaved 19 00:01:26,240 --> 00:01:29,920 Speaker 1: people in the rebellious Confederate states were declared free, and 20 00:01:29,959 --> 00:01:34,280 Speaker 1: it took effect on January one, eighteen sixty three. The 21 00:01:34,319 --> 00:01:37,520 Speaker 1: proclamation also announced that black men would be able to 22 00:01:37,640 --> 00:01:41,080 Speaker 1: enlist in the Union Army and Navy, and hundreds of 23 00:01:41,120 --> 00:01:44,080 Speaker 1: thousands of black men did fight for the Union during 24 00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:47,440 Speaker 1: the war, but it only applied to states that had 25 00:01:47,480 --> 00:01:51,600 Speaker 1: seceded from the US. Slavery remained legal in the border 26 00:01:51,640 --> 00:01:55,520 Speaker 1: states or slave owning states that did not join the Confederacy, 27 00:01:55,680 --> 00:02:00,240 Speaker 1: as well as Union controlled rebel areas, so the proclamation 28 00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:04,600 Speaker 1: did not outright in slavery in America. News of the 29 00:02:04,600 --> 00:02:08,600 Speaker 1: proclamation took a while to spread in Texas, the most 30 00:02:08,639 --> 00:02:12,280 Speaker 1: western state, and the Confederacy was removed from a lot 31 00:02:12,320 --> 00:02:16,800 Speaker 1: of the Civil War action. Slaveholders had migrated in large 32 00:02:16,880 --> 00:02:19,960 Speaker 1: numbers from eastern states to Texas to get out of 33 00:02:19,960 --> 00:02:25,200 Speaker 1: war torn areas and shirk emancipation enforcement. By eighteen sixty five, 34 00:02:25,560 --> 00:02:29,560 Speaker 1: around two hundred and fifty thousand people were enslaved in Texas. 35 00:02:30,200 --> 00:02:33,359 Speaker 1: Confederate General Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern 36 00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:38,160 Speaker 1: Virginia surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant on April ninth, 37 00:02:38,320 --> 00:02:42,839 Speaker 1: eighteen sixty five. But the Army of the trans Mississippi 38 00:02:42,919 --> 00:02:47,880 Speaker 1: and other rebels kept fighting for months after. Galveston, Texas, 39 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:51,920 Speaker 1: was a major Confederate port since Texas seceded from the 40 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:55,200 Speaker 1: United States. The city had been blockaded by the Union, 41 00:02:55,600 --> 00:02:59,600 Speaker 1: occupied by the U. S. Navy, and recaptured by the Confederacy. 42 00:03:00,560 --> 00:03:04,680 Speaker 1: But on June two, General Edmund Kirby Smith signed surrender 43 00:03:04,800 --> 00:03:09,320 Speaker 1: terms for the Confederate trans Mississippi Department aboard the U. S. S. 44 00:03:09,320 --> 00:03:13,280 Speaker 1: Fort Jackson and Galveston Harbor. It was the last major 45 00:03:13,320 --> 00:03:18,240 Speaker 1: Confederate command to surrender. On June eight, Major General Gordon 46 00:03:18,280 --> 00:03:22,880 Speaker 1: Granger arrived in Galveston with two thousand Federal troops. The 47 00:03:22,919 --> 00:03:26,120 Speaker 1: next day, Granger read General Orders number three at the 48 00:03:26,160 --> 00:03:30,720 Speaker 1: Headquarters District of Texas and Galveston. He said the following, 49 00:03:31,480 --> 00:03:34,760 Speaker 1: The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with 50 00:03:34,800 --> 00:03:38,360 Speaker 1: a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all 51 00:03:38,400 --> 00:03:42,920 Speaker 1: slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal 52 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:47,000 Speaker 1: rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, 53 00:03:47,240 --> 00:03:51,680 Speaker 1: and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between 54 00:03:51,720 --> 00:03:56,000 Speaker 1: employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain 55 00:03:56,160 --> 00:04:00,120 Speaker 1: quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They 56 00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:02,680 Speaker 1: are informed that they will not be allowed to collect 57 00:04:02,720 --> 00:04:06,080 Speaker 1: at military posts and that they will not be supported 58 00:04:06,120 --> 00:04:10,080 Speaker 1: in idleness, either there or elsewhere. But as with the 59 00:04:10,120 --> 00:04:15,480 Speaker 1: Emancipation Proclamation, change was not immediate in all encompassing. Many 60 00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:18,159 Speaker 1: slave owners did not relay news of the announcement and 61 00:04:18,200 --> 00:04:23,240 Speaker 1: free enslaved people until after the harvest. Some forced free 62 00:04:23,240 --> 00:04:27,039 Speaker 1: people to work anyway. Though the order encouraged black people 63 00:04:27,080 --> 00:04:29,800 Speaker 1: to stay with their former owners, many left to find 64 00:04:29,839 --> 00:04:32,320 Speaker 1: family or to move north, in a process that was 65 00:04:32,400 --> 00:04:36,760 Speaker 1: dubbed the scatter. Some formerly enslaved people were beaten or 66 00:04:36,839 --> 00:04:41,000 Speaker 1: murdered after they attempted to fulfill their freedom. In December 67 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:44,080 Speaker 1: of eighteen sixty five, the thirteenth Amendment to the U. 68 00:04:44,200 --> 00:04:48,040 Speaker 1: S Constitution, abolishing slavery in the United States, was ratified. 69 00:04:48,880 --> 00:04:52,520 Speaker 1: The next year, the freed black people of Texas celebrated 70 00:04:52,680 --> 00:04:56,600 Speaker 1: June nineteenth and recognition of Granger's eighteen sixty five announcement. 71 00:04:57,640 --> 00:05:01,240 Speaker 1: June tenth, as June nineteenth came to be known, became 72 00:05:01,320 --> 00:05:04,839 Speaker 1: a day that marked freedom and progress, honored through readings 73 00:05:04,880 --> 00:05:10,480 Speaker 1: of the Emancipation Proclamation, games, food, and religious sermons. The 74 00:05:10,520 --> 00:05:14,120 Speaker 1: Friedman's Bureau was established in eighteen sixty five to deal 75 00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:17,560 Speaker 1: with the social reconstruction necessary in the aftermath of the 76 00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:21,280 Speaker 1: Civil War. But even then, records exist of black people 77 00:05:21,320 --> 00:05:24,920 Speaker 1: who were still illegally enslaved in Texas and other states, 78 00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:28,919 Speaker 1: and the black folks who were emancipated still faced the 79 00:05:28,960 --> 00:05:33,080 Speaker 1: problems of lack of shelter, food, and resources, on top 80 00:05:33,120 --> 00:05:36,720 Speaker 1: of the codified discrimination and racist violence that proliferated at 81 00:05:36,720 --> 00:05:41,040 Speaker 1: the time. Since the eighteen hundreds, the celebration of Juneteenth 82 00:05:41,040 --> 00:05:45,720 Speaker 1: has spread from Texas and throughout the United States. I'm 83 00:05:45,760 --> 00:05:48,440 Speaker 1: Eve Jeffcote, and hopefully you know a little more about 84 00:05:48,520 --> 00:05:53,520 Speaker 1: history today than you did yesterday. Just an additional note 85 00:05:53,560 --> 00:05:57,520 Speaker 1: that after Juneteenth, black people needed places to gather to celebrate, 86 00:05:57,600 --> 00:06:00,640 Speaker 1: as white people had bar them from using their public spaces. 87 00:06:01,200 --> 00:06:03,919 Speaker 1: They began raising money to buy their own spots to 88 00:06:03,960 --> 00:06:08,080 Speaker 1: celebrate Juneteenth. Emancipation Park in Houston, Texas, which opened in 89 00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:13,000 Speaker 1: eighteen seventy two, was one such space. We love it 90 00:06:13,040 --> 00:06:16,880 Speaker 1: if you left us a comment on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook. 91 00:06:17,279 --> 00:06:23,120 Speaker 1: At t d I h C podcast, I'm guessing that 92 00:06:23,200 --> 00:06:25,880 Speaker 1: you love history because you just listened to an episode 93 00:06:25,920 --> 00:06:28,960 Speaker 1: of this day in history class. You can listen to 94 00:06:29,040 --> 00:06:33,040 Speaker 1: more history by checking out my Nutea Unpopular. It's a 95 00:06:33,080 --> 00:06:36,240 Speaker 1: show about people in history who challenge the status quo 96 00:06:36,400 --> 00:06:41,320 Speaker 1: and we're sometimes persecuted for it. Thanks for listening and 97 00:06:41,360 --> 00:06:53,040 Speaker 1: we'll see you tomorrow. For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, 98 00:06:53,200 --> 00:06:55,760 Speaker 1: visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 99 00:06:55,839 --> 00:06:56,960 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.