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Juneteenth Day Special: “Remembering the Texas Emancipation Order · Voices Of Life

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Welcome to this Voices of Life, Juneteenth Day
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Special. A journey into truth, memory, and the
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long unfinished work of freedom. Today, we step
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beyond the surface of celebration and into the
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deeper story, one that stretches across continents,
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centuries, and the spiritual struggle for human
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dignity. Juneteenth is often remembered as the
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day slavery ended in America. But history tells
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a more complex, more human, and more sobering
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truth. The Texas Emancipation, Order of June
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19th, 1865, did not free every enslaved person
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in the United States. It marked freedom for roughly
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200 men, women, and children in Texas. Yet slavery
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continued in several Union states and even in
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sovereign tribal nations long after the Civil
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War had ended. Only with the ratification of
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the 13th Amendment months later did slavery become
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illegal across the entire nation. In this special
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broadcast, Pastor David guides us through that
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fuller story. He traces the global origins of
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slavery. the transatlantic systems that shape
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the Americas, and the political and military
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realities behind the Emancipation Proclamation.
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He explores the states and territories where
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slavery persisted after Appomattox, and the legal,
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spiritual, and moral weight of the 13th Amendment
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as the true end of American slavery. Pastor David
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also leads us into the modern era, Examining
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how Juneteenth rose from local remembrance to
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national recognition. How it became a federal
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holiday in 2021. And what its adoption reveals
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about our politics, our culture, and the cost
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of commemorating freedom. Blending documentary
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-style narration with pastoral reflection, scripture,
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and prayer. This Voices of Life special invites
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you to sit with the truth. Not the simplified
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version, but the whole story. Because healing
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requires honesty. And freedom, real freedom,
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demands that we remember. So settle in, open
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your heart, and join us as Pastor David leads
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us through Juneteenth. Remembering the Texas
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Emancipation Order. Welcome, friends, to this
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Voices of Life podcast special. I'm Pastor David.
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Today we honor a day that carries both celebration
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and sobering truth. A day that marks freedom,
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but also reveals how long freedom was delayed.
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This is our Juneteenth special, a journey through
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history, faith, struggle, and a long road toward
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liberty. Juneteenth marks June 19, 1865, when
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Union General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston,
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Texas, and announced that enslaved people in
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Texas were free. Some 200 slaves were freed,
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a fraction of the number that were still enslaved
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in the northern states, which had over 400 ,000
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during the war. But this moment, as powerful
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as it is made out to be, did not end slavery
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in the United States. it ended slavery in texas
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the last confederate state where emancipation
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proclamation could be enforced the emancipation
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proclamation issued on january first eighteen
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sixty three is often misunderstood it did not
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free all enslaved people it did not apply to
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the northern states it did not apply to the border
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states that remained loyal to the union it only
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was applied to the Confederacy. It was Lincoln's
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own strategy as a military and political tool
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designed to weaken the Confederacy by freeing
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enslaved people only in rebel states. That was
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the plan. It did help. It certainly did do some
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damage to the Confederacy's strength. Slavery
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remained legal in multiple Union states after
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the Civil War ended. Was slavery really a moral
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issue for Lincoln, or was it a political one?
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Well, it was a military and political one. Even
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after Lee surrendered at Appomattox in April
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of 1865, slavery continued in those several Union
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states that were exempt from the Emancipation
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Proclamation. These states included Delaware,
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Kentucky, New Jersey, Missouri, and Maryland.
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Slavery in these states did not fully end until
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the 13th Amendment was ratified on December 6,
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1865, and was not fully enforced until January
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of 1866. So Juneteenth was not the end of slavery.
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It was the final enforcement of Emancipation
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Proclamation in Alaska Confederate Territory.
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Freedom is rarely instant. It is often delayed
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by human sin and advanced by God's justice. Juneteenth
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reminds us that truth must be told fully, not
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romantically. In Psalm 146, verse 7, the Lord
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sets the prisoners free. we talk about Juneteenth,
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we need to understand something deeper. Slavery.
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And slavery did not begin in America. Far from
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it. It is an ancient wound globally. It was persistent
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and tragically creative in how it exploited human
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beings. This is a story of slavery across civilizations
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and how those systems eventually touched the
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United States. From the earliest civilizations,
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slavery was embedded in the law and culture.
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In Mesopotamia, which was summer in Babylon,
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enslavers, city -states, and temple elites enslaved
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were war captives, debtors, and their families.
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It was codified in the Code of Hammurabi as a
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normal institution. Ancient Egypt. The enslavers
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were the pharaohs, nobles, and temples. The enslaved,
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well, war captives from Nubia, Libya, Asia, people
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born into servitude. In Greece, the enslavers,
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city -states like Athens and Sparta. The enslaved
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were foreign captives, purchased slaves, helots
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in Sparta, from conquered Mycenae. In Rome, Enslavers
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were the Roman state, aristocrats and merchants.
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The enslaved, well, war captives from Europe,
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North Africa, Middle East, people sold into bondage.
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Slaves worked in households, mines, farms, and
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even as teachers. Some could be freed. There
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were some provisions in some of those areas for
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that, but most of them stayed slaves. These systems
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did not yet touch the future United States directly,
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but they created the template for large -scale,
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legally sanctioned slavery. Now let's talk about
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Islamic, African, and Haitian slave trades. From
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the 7th century onwards, slavery expanded through
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Islamic, African, and Haitian networks. Islamic,
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Caliphates, and Ottoman Empire. The enslavers?
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Muslim rulers, merchants, military elites, the
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enslaved non -Muslims from Africa, East Europe,
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Central Asia, and India. The routes, well, Trans
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-Saharan, Red Sea, Indian Ocean, Balkan, and
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Crimean slave trades. Let's talk about the Arab
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slave trade, spanned over a thousand years, trafficking
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millions from East and Central Africa into the
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Middle East. Persia, India, and beyond. Eastern
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European raids. The enslavers were Crimean, Canaanite,
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Barbary, Cossairs, Ottoman authorities who enslaved
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Europeans from Italy, Spain, France, Balkans,
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Ukraine, and Poland. Millions taken between the
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15th and 18th centuries. Millions. These systems
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created global markets for human beings, markets
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that European powers would later plug into when
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they turned toward the Atlantic world. By the
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15th and 16th centuries, European kingdoms began
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building a new system, one that would directly
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shape the future of the United States. So in
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Portugal and Spain, early leaders in Atlantic
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slaving The enslavers were the crown -chartered
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merchants, plantation owners, the enslaved Africans
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from West and Central Africa, the destinations,
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well, Atlantic Islands, Brazil, Caribbean, Spanish
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America. Italian merchants used enslaved people
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and others in the Mediterranean sugar production.
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They were Slavs. That was the ethnic name for
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them, and that's where the word slave came from.
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A model later applied to African slavery in Atlantic
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plantations. England, France, the Netherlands,
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Denmark, others entered into slave trade in the
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17th century. The enslavers were the royal companies,
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private merchants, colonial elites. The enslaved
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Africans captured or purchased through African
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intermediaries. British North America, the future
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U .S., Caribbean, and South America. Over 12
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to 15 million Africans were forced across the
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Atlantic. Millions more died in raids, marches,
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and the Middle Passage. This is where global
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slavery touches the United States directly. And
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it should be noted that the slaves that were
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taken from Africa were not all forcefully taken.
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Some were sold by their families. Some were sold
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by their chiefs. So it was not a one -way unilateral
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raid all the time. They estimate about 40 % were
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sold by their families and the chiefs. So let's
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take a look at slavery in the United States.
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The enslavers were originally the colonial government,
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the British, Spanish, and the French. The plantation
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owners, the merchants, the urban elites. Later,
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U .S. citizens across North and the South. Remember
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we said the northern states had them all through
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the war and after the war. Who were enslaved?
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Primarily Africans and their descendants. Some
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indigenous people in the early colonial periods,
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Indians. other indigenous people. People trapped
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in heredity chattel slavery. Slavery in the U
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.S. was built on European Atlantic systems, African
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capture and sale, legal codes that define people
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as property. Take a look at the Constitution
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and look at the definitions. You'd be very surprised
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to see what the original Constitution showed.
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And as property, They were not considered persons.
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So Juneteenth sits on the far end of this global
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chain, a day when one corner of the system had
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finally heard what had been proclaimed years
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earlier. Slavery is not the story of the one
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nation's sin alone. It is the story of human
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sin across empires, cultures, and centuries.
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This was a global problem. Eventually, it would
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work itself out and the countries would do away
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with slavery. But it took time for the evolution
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of that. Different enslavers, different enslaved,
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same broken heart. And yet, in every age, God
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raises voices for justice, mercy, and freedom.
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Galatians 3 verse 28 says, There is neither Jew
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nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, for you
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are all one in Christ Jesus. This global story
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makes Juneteenth even more profound. It is one
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chapter in a much larger book of God's work to
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break chains, seen and unseen. Now, the 13th
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Amendment, that was truly the real end of slavery.
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The true legal end of slavery in America came
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not in 1863 with the Emancipation Proclamation,
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not in 1865 in Texas with Juneteenth, but the
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ratification of the 13th Amendment. It abolished
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slavery and said, except as punishment for the
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crime. A clause that would shape future injustices.
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I think at the time it offered a $1 ,000 fine
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and one year in prison for keeping a slave. Now,
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why was freedom delayed? Well, freedom was delayed
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because Texas resisted federal authority. Remember,
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when Texas joined the United States, it wasn't
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a state or territory. It was its own country.
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And it gave up that right after being a country
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for about 13 years. Slaveholders withheld the
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news from the slaves. Communication was slow.
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There was not, from the war, there was damaged
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telegraphs. Of course, we only had papers. There
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was no TV, no radio. So communication was very,
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very slow. Weeks, months to get news across the
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country. Enforcement required military presence.
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Just think back to the civil rights movements
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in the 60s. A lot of times the National Guard
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had to be called or federal troops. Political
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interests resisted the change. So Juneteenth
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is a celebration, but it's also a reminder of
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how long injustice can cling to power. The faith
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communities and freedom work together in the
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black churches. and they became the center of
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celebration, education, and hope. Juneteenth
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gatherings included scripture, prayer, and music
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as testimonies. The church became the place where
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freedom was spiritually claimed, even when society
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delayed it. Now, God's justice is never late,
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but human obedience often is. Isaiah 61 verse
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1 says, He has sent me to proclaim freedom for
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the captives. Well, Abraham Lincoln certainly
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tried to do that, at least for part of the United
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States. And the road to federal recognition,
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that takes even longer. Juneteenth was celebrated
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for over 150 years before becoming a federal
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holiday, but it really... was a celebration of
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the freedom of slaves in Texas. It really had
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no impact on the rest of the United States. Texas,
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however, finally recognized it in 1980. Some
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states followed very slowly, but in 2021, Congress
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passed the Juneteenth National Independence Day
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Act, and President Joe Biden signed it into law.
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Well, let's talk about that. In the past, whenever
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a new federal holiday came into existence, we
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had to give one up. You remember when they did
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Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday, I believe
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it was 1983, we gave up one of our president's
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birthday and just made a president's day out
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of it. It was George Washington and Graham Lincoln.
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Anyway, so we gave one of them up. Why? Because
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there's a fiscal impact to the federal budget.
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when you have a federal holiday. But in this
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case, they didn't do it. They didn't give up
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another holiday for this one. They simply added
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it. Well, that had a cost. But it was a price
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that the Congress was willing to pay because
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they looked at it as a good political strategy.
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historical analysis from multiple sources notes
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that the bill passed quickly it occurred during
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a period of national racial tension some lawmakers
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saw it as a symbolic reconciliation others saw
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it as a political positioning as with many federal
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holidays the motivations were mixed historical
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cultural and political Federal holidays are expensive,
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as I said earlier, because federal workers are
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paid for a full day off. Essential workers receive
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holiday pay. Agencies operate at reduced capacity.
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According to analysis from the Office of Personnel
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Management and Independent Budget Studies, the
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estimated cost of adding a new federal holiday
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in 2021 was $600 to $700 million per year. So
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when we think about the inflation we went through
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over those four years, and you figure what it's
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going to be now in 2026, that $600 to $700 million
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has now become $800 to $900 million. These figures
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are estimates from the budget office, so these
19:56
are the official sources. I mentioned earlier
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when Martin Luther King Jr. Day became a federal
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holiday in 83. Yeah, Congress consolidated Washington's
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birthday into the broader President's Day to
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offset costs. But we didn't do that this time.
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But we spent money, and of course our deficit
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continues. And I mention this because we're all
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Americans. We care about our country, and we
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care about deficits. There's ways of doing things
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and making days like a flag day without it being
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a federal holiday. But it could be a day of remembrance,
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and that's probably the direction that should
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have gone to help our budget out. But holidays
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are not just days off. They are statements about
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what a nation chooses to remember and what it
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chooses to honor. In John 8, verse 36 says, So,
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if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
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But what does Juneteenth mean today? June 19,
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2026. It is not merely a celebration of freedom
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gained. It is a reminder of freedom delayed.
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A reminder that justice requires vigilance. A
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reminder the truth must be told fully. And while
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this was only for Texas, we just have to remember
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as the church must continue to tell the truth,
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heal wounds, stand for justice, celebrate freedom,
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confront sin, and proclaim hope. Juneteenth is
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a call to remember and to act in everything that
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is important to us. America is still becoming
21:50
what it claimed to be in its... words. Juneteenth
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reminds us that freedom is a journey, not a moment,
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not a particular day. Thank you for joining us
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as you go today. Please remember this. God is
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the author of true freedom. And next week, we'll
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continue our journey this Sunday. with week three
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of our 250 -year America series, A Fragile Union,
22:28
The Articles of Confederation and the Struggle
22:31
to Survive. Until then, walk in hope, stand in
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truth, and keep listening for the voice that
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leads you forward. Let's have a closing prayer.
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Heavenly Father, thank you for the freedom, You
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give. Thank you for the truth that sets us free.
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And thank you for the courage to confront the
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past with honesty and hope. Guide us as we continue
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to seek justice, mercy, and unity. In Jesus'
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name, amen. Thank you for joining us, and we'll
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be talking to you this Sunday. Until then, this
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is Pastor David. Thank you for joining us on
23:20
Voices of Life, a ministry of the Church for
23:23
Life. and the even longer arc of God's call to
23:49
freedom. We have traced the global roots of slavery,
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the transatlantic systems that scarred generations,
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and the sobering truth that Juneteenth was not
24:03
the end of slavery in America, but a step, a
24:07
signal, a proclamation that freedom was finally
24:11
reaching Texas. We have remembered the states
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and territories where slavery endured even after
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the Civil War and the moment when the 13th Amendment
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made freedom the law of the land. We have reflected
24:27
on how Juneteenth rose from local remembrance
24:30
to national recognition and how its adoption
24:34
as a federal holiday invites us to wrestle honestly
24:39
with our past and our present. Thank you for
24:45
joining us for this Voices of Life Juneteenth
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Day Special