Ā By Sainey FayeĀ
“The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a ProclamationĀ from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free.This involvesĀ an absolute equality of rights of property between former masters andĀ slaves and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes thatĀ between employer and free laborer.The freemen are advised to remain atĀ their present homes and work for wages.They are informed that they willĀ not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not beĀ supported in idleness, either there or elsewhere.”
“General Order No. 3”Ā
Texas,Ā or rather the state of Texas was part of Mexico (Spanish); until itĀ wasĀ annexedĀ in 1836 by American colonists and European settlers.Three years laterĀ in1839, they proclaimed it a Republic – a sovereign state, but could not join theĀ Union
until six years after, on December 29th, 1845 when it became a stateĀ of theĀ United States.
In1800, some records indicate that there were nearly 900,000 –Ā 1,000,000 AfricanĀ slavesĀ in the continental UnitedĀ States.By1860 or three years before the Civil War,Ā theyĀ were estimated to be 4 million African slaves in the U.S. Texas had the 10th largest African slave population – a quarter million by end of the Civil War in 1865.Ā
ThisĀ meant that 30% of residents of the state of Texas were slaves; in a state thatĀ wasĀ barely twenty years after it joined the Union. It’s literacy rate was notĀ very good,Ā nearlyĀ 95% or more of the slaves wereĀ illiterates.Itis no wonder, thatĀ it seceded fromĀ theĀ Union to protect its major interest and profits from slavery and the slaveĀ plantation.Ā
ItĀ is also no wonder that she had to fight to death to preserve slavery andĀ the confederacyĀ during
the Civil War; even after she lost; she just could not survive withoutĀ free AfricanĀ slaveĀ labour. Deliberately, it waited two and a half years to let theĀ slaves know about theirĀ emancipationĀ – even then it had no choice, because the Union soldiers who defeatedĀ them; hadĀ theĀ order to proclaim and enforce it. Africans fought on both sides – Mexican/American civil war in Texas, when America took Mexico’s territory (Texas) by force, just as it did to the native Indian population.Thus, Africans also contributed to modern and ancient Mexico’s formation by the millions.Ā
On this date in the U.S.A , Africans in the state of Texas, U.S.A. celebrateĀ theirĀ emancipation from slavery on June 19th, 1865.Briefly, the story goes thus: TheĀ end of slavery in the U.S. was proclaimed in Galveston, Texas in June 19,Ā 1865.;Ā two and a half years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation thatĀ freed all slaves in the U.S. Slave holders and plantation owners did notĀ enforceĀ nor let their captive African slaves know of thisĀ law. Inprinciple and by law;Ā Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation was made in January 1, 1863; and itĀ states clearly that slaves or enslaved were free by law in the U.S. That meantĀ all slaves and people in bondage especially the African slaves.Indeed, AfricanĀ slavesĀ helpĀ free themselves and the Union soldiers by fighting fiercely, courageously, andĀ capturingĀ major strongholds that the union forces could not capture.Ā Frederick Douglas hadĀ advised Lincoln to free the slaves earlier on to join the war on theirside.Ā But he hesitatedĀ about African slaves being freed to fight against their masters, armed toĀ the teeth,Ā they just might over run and take over the Southern slave plantations — andĀ that’sĀ whatĀ exactlyĀ happened. Inless than 15 months after they joined, the war
was over in theĀ theĀ rebel south. He was said to tell Frederick Douglas about the gallantĀ African fighters andĀ theĀ battles they won and how quickly they help end the war to hisĀ surprise. Douglas was saidĀ toĀ have told him …..’I told you to Free The Slaves, Free them……They know how to fight If theyĀ havebthe weapons their enemy has’ and history proved him right. The war ended with
the defeat of Texas and the the Confederate South.Ā
But it wasn’t enforced in the entire nation; pandespecially in a state like Texas,Ā until Gen. Lee was defeated and had to surrender to the Union forces in April,Ā 1865. The message read by the commanding major general read an executive order,Ā also known as “General Order Number 3” – which specifically statedĀ the end of the Civil War ; and that all slaves were free henceforth. Can you imagine theĀ jubilation and joy of the African masses in the plantations? Some historiansĀ saidĀ that the news spread like a brush fire to all the plantations; and there wereĀ celebrations; and thousands left in a hurry heading north or anywhere butĀ Texas,Ā with the little they canĀ gather. Asyears passed, right up to today, the Africanmdescendants still celebrate it as America’s “2nd Independence Day” –Ā or, theĀ oldest known celebration by Africans commemorating the end of slavery in theĀ United States. They call it JUNETEENTH.Ā
IfĀ indeed today – a century and a half; African immigrants are being hounded,Ā hunted, and rounded byĀ the INS, ICE, and other law enforcement as illegal, the paradox becomes
inexplicable.Ā
TheyĀ even juxtapose and confuse what is ‘illegal’ as oppose to ‘illegal status’ ,Ā and criticsĀ wonderĀ – how does a person become illegal ….seriously? The case for AfricansĀ they claimĀ mustĀ be looked at and studied again, and again, for theirs is the only one forcedĀ from theirĀ motherland;Ā unlike Europeans and many others who came on their own volition.
Besides, after the civil war they were supposed to be paid some land –Ā ’40 Acres & A Mule’, Ā manyĀ modern advocates say they can forgo the mule – but the land they can use andĀ need.Ā
TheĀ nation paid reparations to the slave holders, and not the slaves.The market valueĀ of the slavesĀ far exceeded the banks and the factories at that time, Wall Street & NYSE grew richer.
Texas,Ā and indeed the U.S. need to be thankful for the sacrificesĀ Africans made in making it aĀ viableĀ state; and breaking the backbone of slavery in the antebellum South once and for all. America’sĀ “2nd Independence Day” celebration by African descendants inĀ Texas, is also known asĀ JUNETEENTH. Itwould be nice and great if America knew what the Africans did, to make her what she is today. ……in the words of the late Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois.Ā
Ends