Juneteenth is an original Texas celebration
"Juneteenth," a colloquial combination of “June” and “nineteenth,” is an American holiday originating in Texas and celebrated June 19.
It is the oldest celebration of the end of slavery in the United States.
It officially recognizes June 19, 1865 - the date that those enslaved in Texas first were informed of the implementation of the 1862 Emancipation Proclamation and their liberation from slavery. An estimated 250,000 enslaved people lived in Texas in 1865. The 13th Amendment abolishing slavery was ratified by the states Dec. 6 that year.
Commemorating the end of slavery in Texas, June 19 originally was observed by Texas, then the Y,/s, Congress, 48 other states and the District of Columbia. The Juneteenth National Independence Day Act making June 19 our 11th annual federal holiday was passed by the Senate unanimously and House of Representatives overwhelmingly and signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2021.
The Civil War ended with the rebel surrender April 9, 1865, at Virginia's Appomattox Court House village. The last battle was fought May 12-13 in Texas on the banks of the Rio Grande at Palmetto Ranch east of Brownsville followed by the surrender of all rebel forces in Texas.
Texas was on the western edge of the southern slave states, geographically remote, not a major battleground state and the final one to recognize the lawful cessation of slavery.
Texas remoteness also prevented the “Underground Railroad” from being a reality.
This coordinated abolitionist network hid escaped slaves in Southern states and arranged their travel to Northern states for freedom. Enslaved people in Texas had to find their own ways of liberation by escaping on foot, horseback or by wagon overland to Mexico where slavery was outlawed, to the Gulf of Mexico for boat passage to the Caribbean or farther west across hostile and lawless territory.
They seldom succeeded.
Union Army Gen. Gordon Granger with 2,000 federal troops arrived at Galveston Island on June 18, 1865, to begin occupation of Texas. The next morning, Granger publicly announced the total emancipation of slaves in Texas by reading a military general order from his headquarters at Strand and 22nd streets.
It stated, in part: “The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free." A state historical marker commemorating “Juneteenth” was erected at the site by the Galveston Historical Foundation and Texas Historical Commission.
American history tells us one of the first Texas explorers was an African man named Estebanico (1500-39). He arrived in Galveston with Spanish explorer Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca and Spanish conquistadors in 1528. They traveled throughout present day Texas and northern Mexico until 1534.
Texas history records the first Texas Revolution casualty to be Samuel McCullough, Jr. (1810-93), a freed slave and volunteer Texas soldier. He was wounded by a Mexican musket ball at the Battle of Goliad, survived and continued fighting for Texas independence. When McCullough completed his military service, he was awarded a Texas disabled veteran land grant near Von Ormy where he lived with his family and farmed for the rest of his life.
Following the Civil War, 52 Black men were elected and served as Texas legislators during Reconstruction. They included lawyers, farmers, builders, merchants, teachers and preachers. All were Republicans, the party of Lincoln, when Democrats were secessionists and aligned with the defeated Confederacy. The 15th Amendment to the Constitution gave men of all races the right to vote in 1870 (women were deprived of the right to vote until the 20th century).
The last of these historic Black leaders left office in 1897. They were overlooked when Texas history was written but are now resurfacing because of increasing interest in Black history among our historians and society in general.
For a sweeping history of Juneteenth and its importance in American history, the New York Times best seller “On Juneteenth” (Liveright/W.W. Norton & Company, 2021) by Pulitzer Prize winning historian, author and law professor Annette Gordon-Reed is recommended.
Juneteenth was first celebrated in Texas in 1866.
Freed men, women and children gathered in rural communities and freedom colonies to rejoice with parades, dances, hallelujahs, feasts, music, singing, grateful prayers and tears of relief.
Regrettably, residual racism remains.
John Compere is a retired Texas lawyer, retired U.S. judge and West Texas rancher.
This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Juneteenth is an original Texas celebration
