From 1865 forward, Black Americans gathered in TX every year to honor and celebrate freedom. These celebrations evolved into what is known as Juneteenth, but were also 'Jubilee Day' and 'Emancipation Day.’ Black Americans were prohibited from using public spaces to celebrate, so they collected money to purchase land to carry on the tradition. Emancipation Park in Houston, TX was purchased in 1872 for $1,000.

11/16


#BlackMastodon 
#histodons #History #CivilWar
#histodons #Juneteenth

Although emancipation didn’t happen overnight for everyone—in some cases, enslavers withheld the information until after harvest season—celebrations broke out among newly freed Black people, and Juneteenth was born!

10/16

#BlackHistory 
#BlackMastodon 
#histodons #History #CivilWar
#histodons #Juneteenth

Final emancipation from the Emancipation Proclamation happened on June 19, 1865 in Galveston Texas, two months after the surrender at Appomattox. Commemoration of this date would become the celebration JUNETEENTH. Enslaved people in states that fought for the Union — Missouri, Delaware, Maryland, and Kentucky — did not become emancipated until December 6, 1865, with the passage of the 13th Amendment.

9/16

#BlackHistory 
#BlackMastodon 
#histodons #History #CivilWar
#histodons #Juneteenth

In Texas, slavery continued as the state experienced no large-scale fighting or significant presence of Union troops. Many enslavers outside the Lone Star State moved there, as they viewed it as a safe haven for slavery. After the war ended in the spring of 1865, General Granger’s arrival in Galveston that June signaled freedom for Texas’ 250,000 enslaved people and later solidified by the 13th Amendment.

8/16

#BlackHistory #BlackMastodon 
#histodons #History #CivilWar
#histodons #Juneteenth

But in reality, the Emancipation Proclamation didn’t instantly free any enslaved people. The Proclamation only applied to places under Confederate control and not to slave-holding border states or rebel areas already under Union control. However, as Northern troops advanced into the Confederate South, many enslaved people fled behind Union lines.

6/16

#BlackHistory 
#BlackMastodon 
#histodons #History #CivilWar
#histodons #Juneteenth

It was well known that Lincoln would finally sign the Proclamation on January, 1, so Black Americans gathered where they could to await news of the signing. On New Year’s Day 1863, Black Americans in Beaufort, SC, gathered to hear Col. Thomas Wentworth Higginson read the Emancipation Proclamation. He remembered the moment…I never saw anything so electric; it made all other words cheap…”

3/16

#BlackHistory 
#BlackMastodon 
#histodons #History #CivilWar
#histodons #Juneteenth

Following Antietam, Lincoln spent much of 1862 writing the Emancipation Proclamation, being lobbied by Black leaders to include military service by Black men, & to expand its scope. While the Proclamation did not promise freedom to all enslaved people, it did provide a plan to free the enslaved people in the occupied territories of the South and to begin enlisting black men to fight in the Civil War.

2/16

#BlackHistory 
#BlackMastodon 
#histodons #History #CivilWar
#histodons #Juneteenth

Juneteenth became more than just a celebration of freedom. It became a way for families to reunite; a way for Black Americans to organize politically, economically and spiritually; a way to educate and inspire future generations to come; and a way to show their pride, strength, and resolve.

12/16

https://youtu.be/ATu_AljLvHI

#BlackHistory 
#BlackMastodon 
#histodons #History #CivilWar
#histodons #Juneteenth