Post Civil War: Reconstruction and Juneteenth

Our New-Orleans files bring us the following interesting news from Texas:

OurDocuments.gov. Featuring 100 milestone documents of American history from the National Archives. Includes images of original primary source documents, lesson plans, teacher and student competitions, and educational resources.

OurDocuments.gov. Featuring 100 milestone documents of American history from the National Archives. Includes images of original primary source documents, lesson plans, teacher and student competitions, and educational resources.

With the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in December 1865, slavery was officially abolished in all areas of the United States. The Reconstruction era was under way in the South, the period during which the 11 Confederate states would be gradually reintroduced to the Union. In the meantime, Northern armies continued to occupy the South and to enforce the decrees of Congress. Frederick Douglass was then 47 years old, an active man in the prime of his life. No longer enlisted in the war on slavery, he thought about buying a farm and settling down to a quiet life. But black Americans still desperately needed an advocate, and Douglass soon rejected any notion of an early retirement.

Juneteenth or June 19, 1865, is considered the date when the last slaves in America
were freed. Although the rumors of freedom were widespread prior to this, actual
emancipation did not come until General Gordon Granger rode into Galveston, Texas and
issued General Order No. 3, on June 19, almost two and a half years after President
Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

Juneteenth Juneteenth, celebrated on June 19, is the name given to emancipation day by African-Americans in Texas. On that day in 1865 Union Major-General Gordon Granger read General Orders, No.3 to the people of Galveston. It stated:

A scroll containing the 13th Amendment.