Transcript

6.19.26 · History Hour

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Speaker 1: Welcome. This is Radio Ey's History Show and I'm your host,
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Joseph Bolt, so glad to be with you for this time.
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And before we begin today's show, I just want to
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remind you that RADIOI is a listener driven and we
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will welcome any of your comments or suggestions about our programming.
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So if you have any thoughts, give us a call
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at eight five nine four two two six three nine
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zero and let us know what they are. Radio E
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is a reading service intended for people who are blind
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or have other disabilities that make it difficult to read
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printed material. Sources for today's show will be cited along
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the way, So let's get started. On February first, eighteen
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sixty one, Texas became the seventh state to secede from
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the Union when a state convention votes one hundred and
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sixty six to eight in favor of the measure. The
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Texans who voted to leave the Union did so over
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the objections of their governor, Sam Houston, a staunch unionist.
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Houston's election in eighteen fifty nine as governor seemed to
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indicate that Texas did not share the rising secessionist sentiments
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of the other Southern states. However, events swayed many Texans
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to the secessionist cause. John Brown's raid on the Federal
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Armory at Harper's Ferry, Virginia now West Virginia in October
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of eighteen fifty nine had raised the specter of a
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major insurrection of enslaved people, and the ascendant Republican Party
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made many Texans uneasy about continuing in the Union. After
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Abraham Lincoln's election to the presidency in November of eighteen sixty,
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pressure mounted on Houston to call a convention so that
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Texas could consider secession. He did so, but reluctantly in
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January of eighteen sixty one, and sat in silence on
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February first. As the convention voted overwhelmingly in favor of secession,
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Houston grumbled that Texans were quote stilling the voice of reason,
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and he predicted an ignoble defeat for the South. Houston
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refused take an oath of allegiance to the Confederacy, and
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so was quickly replaced in March of eighteen sixty one
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by his lieutenant governor. Two years later, on January first,
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eighteen sixty three, President Abraham Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation
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that established that all enslaved people in Confederate states in
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rebellion against the Union quote shall be then, thenceforward and
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forever free. According to the website battlefields dot org, the
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proclamation was actually issued twice, first on September twenty second,
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eighteen sixty two, and it stipulated that if the Southern
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States did not cease their rebellion by January first, eighteen
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sixty three, then the proclamation would go into effect well.
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When the Confederacy did not yield, Lincoln issued his final
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Emancipation Proclamation on January first, eighteen sixty three. President Lincoln
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had first proposed the emancipation to his cabinet in July
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of eighteen sixty two, but Secretary of State William Seward
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suggested waiting for a Union victory so that the government
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could prove that it could enforce the proclamation. Although the
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Battle of Antietam resulted in a draw, the Union army
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was able to drive the Confederates out of Maryland enough
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of a victory that Lincoln felt comfortable issuing the emancipation
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just five days later. In reality, the Emancipation Proclamation didn't
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instantly free any enslaved people. The proclamation only applied to
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places under Confederate control and not to slaveholding border states
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or rebelaries already under Union control. And in addition, many
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enslaved black Americans had no idea that President Lincoln had
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even signed the proclamation, for the fact was hidden by
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slave owners to preserve slavery. One myth surrounding emancipation is
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the belief that the Union troops physically traveled throughout the
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South bringing news of emancipation to each and every person
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held in bondage. This type of news to individual slaves
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did occur, but was rare. Instead, the news spread mostly
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through slave networks and other informal methods of communication. After
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receiving the news, some of the enslaved self liberated and
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took refuge behind Union lines. Many of these freedom seekers
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even joined the U. S. Army and Navy to fight
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as United States Colored Troops throughout the remainder of the war.
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Commanding General Ulysses Grant had many strengths as a leader.
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One lay in his ability to choose subordinates who helped
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him deal with difficult situations and implement his policies. One
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evening in November of eighteen sixty two, four months after
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the first proclamation, Chaplain John Eaton received a completely unexpected
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order from General Grant. The orderer directed him to immediately
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put aside his duties as a chaplain of the twenty
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seventh Ohio Infantry Volunteers, and to take charge of all
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the nearby fugitive slaves, see to their welfare and set
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them to working picking the cotton that lay unharvested in
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the fields. Eaton, who had never met Grant, was appalled
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to read the description of the job the General had
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assigned to him. After meeting with Grant, Eaton realized that
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Grant had carefully considered the issues surrounding emancipation and the
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transition from slavery to freedom, given the limitations of the
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available resources. In reality, the emancipation put officers like Grant
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and his subordinates in a practical dilemma. As the proclamation
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made clear, the President and the military were now committed
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to a policy that required them to recognize and maintain
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the freedom of every escaped slave who entered Union lines.
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The proclamation even quoted legislation making it a court martial
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offense to deliver any escaped slave back into the hands
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of their former captors. So Grant realized that he must
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take charge of the fugitive slaves and keep them out
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of the hands of their former masters, but he still
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had no direction from Washington on what exactly to do
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with them. In a short time, Grant's army found themselves
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in the midst of a mass of thousands of slaves,
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many of whom had left their homes in a state
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of desperate need. As Eaton looked at his new charges,
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he saw a body of people with no resources to
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care for themselves. He later wrote, quote, imagine, if you will,
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a slave population coming garbed in rags, with feet shod
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or bleeding, an army of slaves and fugitives pushing its
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way toward an army of fighting men. The arrival of
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these hordes was like the oncoming of cities. There was
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no plan in this exodus, no Moses to lead it.
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There were men, women, and children of every stage of
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disease are decreptitude, often nearly naked, with flesh torn by
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the terrible experiences of their escapes. Grant put the army's
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challenge to captain Eaton chaplain Eaton rather in stark terms
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when he stated orders of the government prohibited the expulsion
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of the negroes from the protection of the army. Humanity
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forbade allowing them to starve. There is no special authority
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for feeding them unless they were employed as cooks in
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the army, but only able bodied men were suitable for
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such work. This labor was support but a very limited
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percentage of them. So even though the General wanted to
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help each of the escaped slaves that surrounded him, Grant
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possessed neither the time nor the resources to do it.
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His army's supply line was stretched so thin that he
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could barely feed and clothe his own men. Grant would
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have trouble moving his own army during the upcoming campaign,
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and trying to move the equivalent of a city of
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escaped slaves along with his army seemed unthinkable. So together
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Grant and Eaton began to sketch out a plan by
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which the Army of Blacks might be transformed into a
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positive assistance to the Union forces. The first step was
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to employ as many of the able bodied as possible
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in activities that supported the army behind the lines, like
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handling supplies, working in camp kitchens, or perhaps as nurses
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in the hospitals. Many of the Confederate plantations have been
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abandoned by their owners. As the Union Army approached, Grant
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decided to establish contraband camps that would house large numbers
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of black families in the abandoned structures. Under Eaton's supervision,
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the freed slaves will continue to pick cotton and continue
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to tend to other crops in the fields of the
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abandoned plantations. These crops would then be sold by the
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Army's Quartermaster Department, and the sales proceeds would be turned
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over to the US Treasury, and from those proceeds, the
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laborers would receive credit for wages at a set rate,
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initially twelve and a half cents per pound for picking cotton.
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Of course, not all of the plantations were abandoned, so
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Grant agreed to allow the former slaves to work for
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these landowners hired labor, but only under the same terms
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established by the government. Thus, black families around Grant's army
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began their transition from slave to free and independent laborers
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working for wages. Two years after the proclamation. In April
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of eighteen sixty five, Confederate General in Chief Robert E.
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Lee surrendered to Commanding General Ulysses S. Grant of the U.
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S Army after the Battle of Appomatics in Virginia. While
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this is often viewed as the effective end of the
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Civil War, in parts of the trans Mississippi West, the
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war had yet to conclude. Well into May of eighteen
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sixty five. More than a month after lee surrender, battles
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between Federal troops and Confederate forces continued in Texas. It
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was not until the following month, on June two, eighteen
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sixty five, that Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith finally surrendered
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the trans Mississippi West to US forces. News of the
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proclamation was slow to reach Texas, and because of this,
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Texas was one of the last states to rely financially
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on enslaved human beings. On June nineteenth, eighteen sixty five,
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Union Brigadier General Gordon Granger and his troops arrived at Galveston, Texas,
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and confirm the news that the Civil War had ended
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two months earlier and that enslaved African Americans were now free.
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One of the first tasks a Civil War commander completed
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when setting up a new command was to issue a
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series of general orders establishing the details of the new
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command structure. Consistent with military precedent, General Granger's staff released
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five general orders as soon as a general reached Galveston.
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The third of these orders came to be known as
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the June teenth Order. But before hearing the official June
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tenth order, it is proper to examine the background of
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one more absolutely essential player in this drama. Frederick W. Emery,
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the staff officer who is said to have written Order
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number three under General Granger's authority, and the signature of F. W.
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Emery appears at the bottom of the June teenth order,
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and he deserves much of the credit for the language
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of that order. Emory was born in Portland, Maine, in
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eighteen thirty six. To influence the eventual election in Kansas
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that would determine its status as either a free or
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slave state, a large number of New Englanders, including several
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members of the Emery family, relocated there. One such person
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was Frederick W. Emery, and in eighteen fifty eight, at
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the age of twenty two, Emory was elected to the
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first State Legislature of Kansas. When the Civil War broke out,
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Emory served with the seventh Kansas Cavalry, known as the
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Jennison's Jayhawks. That regiment included a private William F. Buffalo
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Bill Cody, an unknown at the time. Company K, the
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company that Emory joined, had been established in late eighteen
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sixty one by John Brown, junior, son of the famous martyr.
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The regimental history of Company K was made up of
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abolitionists of the intense sort. This company famously held abolitionist
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meetings that closed with the invocation do you swear to
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avenge the death of John Brown? Followed by the chanted
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response we will, we will, and the singing of the
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John Brown hymn. Emory proved himself to be a very
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capable officer with the talent for managing paperwork, and by
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the summer of eighteen sixty three he had distinguished himself
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and was promoted to Assistant Adjutant General with the rank
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of captain under General Granger's command. Soon, Emory was busy
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writing and issuing all of the general orders necessary to
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coordinate the movement of Granger's command to Texas. Order number three,
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the June teenth order, read as follows. The people of
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Texas are informed that, in accordance with the proclamation from
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the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free.
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This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights
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of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection
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heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor.
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The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present
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homes and work for wages. Some say that the order
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was read during a beach made by General Granger from
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a balcony of the U. S Customs House in Galveston.
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Other sources say that the speech was delivered from a
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balcony at Ashton Villa, the current location of a June
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teenth monument. Even though these make for interesting historical imaginings,
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they seem to have no historical basis. No contemporary accounts
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of such a speech seems to exist. Instead, the juneteenth
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Order was a written proclamation that was dispersed through an
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elaborate distribution network that included newspapers, telegraph messages, and handbills
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carried by Union soldiers. The Dallas Historical Society preserved one
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such handbill. Following Granger's announcement, the formerly enslaved black Americans
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broke into celebration. Many left Texas immediately for the North
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or to search for family in other slave holding states.
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Even freedom seekers with no fixed destination left their place
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of bondage, if for no other reason than to grasp
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freedom for the first time. Many former masters used the
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occasion of announcing freedom as an opportunity to try and
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persuade the slaves to stay on and work as employees.
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James Brown recalled that his former master cried as he
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read the freedom paper. Then the tearful master offered five
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dollars a month for those who would stay and bring
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in the crops. Most stayed on for at least the
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time it took the harvest to harvest the next crop.
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At the end of the war, most Southern planners found
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themselves land poor, meaning they owned their land but possessed
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little reliable revenue or liquid assets. After the juneteenth announcement,
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Felix Hayward, a former slave from San Antonio, recalled, everyone
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went wild. We all felt like heroes, just like that.
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We were free. Right off. Colored folks started on the move.
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They seemed to want to get closer to freedom, so
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they know what it was like. It was a place
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or a city. We thought we were going to get
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richer than the white folks because we were stronger and
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we knew how to work and the whites didn't, and
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we didn't have to work for them anymore. But it
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didn't turn out that way. We soon found out that
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freedom could make folks proud, but it didn't make them rich.
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The jonteen celebration grew during the years following the Civil War,
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with many formally enslaved African Americans and their descendants making
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annual anniversary pilgrimages to Galveston. Past juneteen celebrations have included
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religious services, inspirational speeches, games and contests, singing, and of course, feasting.
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Clothing was a crucial aspect of these celebrat rations as well.
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For formerly enslaved people, making a distinction between their lives
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and captivity and their lives as free people was essential,
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and one way to do this was to wear bright
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and lively clothing, something they were not able to do
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when they had enslavers. The popularity of the holiday waned
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during periods of the past, and there were many years
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when it was not celebrated at all. Juneteenth lost momentum
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during the eras of Jim Crow following emancipation, and was
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not widely celebrated in the United States during World War
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two in the nineteen forties, Despite being free, it still
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wasn't safe to be black in the United States. After emancipation,
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white Americans retaliated by terrorizing newly freed black Americans. The
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holiday was resurrected in nineteen fifty, but from then until
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the civil rights movements of the nineteen sixties, few black
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Americans openly observed June teenth. Although the ratification of the
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thirteenth Amendment to the US Constitution in December of eighteen
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sixty five ultimately abolished slavery in all areas of the nation,
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June teenth captured the jubilation of the end of slavery
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in the Confederacy. In nineteen eighty, June teenth became an
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official state holiday in Texas and has since been adopted
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by forty five states and the District of Columbia. Whether
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you call it an Emancipation Day, freedom Day, or the
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country's second Independence Day, June teenth celebrates freedom and freedom
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is something we all value. June teenth is not just
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an African American holiday, but a day that celebrates the
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evolution of our country towards a more perfect union. Sources
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for today's program came from NPS dot gov from an
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article entitled Juneteenth the Celebration of Freedom dated June twenty
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twenty one, and from History dot com an article entitled
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Texas Seceeds written by the History dot Com editors in
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January of twenty twenty one, and from Battlefields dot org
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The American Battlefield Trust ten Facts the Emancipation Proclamation, No date,
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no author, and from history dot com what is Juneteenth?
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Written by Elizabeth Nix in June of twenty twenty one,
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and NPR dot com from an article entitled Slavery Didn't
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End on Juneteenth written by Sharon Pruitt Young in June
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of twenty twenty one, and Thought dot com The History
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of Juneteenth Celebrations written by Nadra Kareem Nittle in June
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of twenty twenty one, and finally from the book June teenth,
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The Story Behind the Celebration by Edward T. Cotham, Junior,
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published by State House Press of Kerrville, Texas in nineteen
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twenty one, or I'm Sorry in twenty twenty one. Well,
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I guess it's time to close now. I sure hope
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you enjoyed today's show. I thank you for listening and
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giving me your time. To day, I'm your host Joseph Bolt,
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and I'll be back the next time with another history.
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I'll leave you with a quote from Harriet Tubman, a
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former slave who later guided others to freedom on the
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underground railroad. God's emancipation is always near. He set the
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North Star in the heavens. He gave me the strength
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in my limbs. He meant I should be free.