It also expressly exempted parts of the Confederacy the Southern secessionist states that had already come under Northern control. Most important, the freedom it promised depended upon Union United States military victory. Although the Emancipation Proclamation did not end slavery in the nation, it captured the hearts and imagination of millions of Americans and fundamentally transformed the character of the war.
After January 1, , every advance of federal troops expanded the domain of freedom. Moreover, the Proclamation announced the acceptance of black men into the Union Army and Navy, enabling the liberated to become liberators. By the end of the war, almost , black soldiers and sailors had fought for the Union and freedom.
From the first days of the Civil War, slaves had acted to secure their own liberty. Eventually, there were some blacks who wore the uniform of the Confederacy, but the widely accepted opinion on their exclusion from donning the battle gray uniforms was as Confederate General Clement H. If we make him a soldier we concede the whole question.
In March , with the tide turned decidedly in favor of the North, Confederate President Jefferson Davis approved the enlistment of , slaves, with the predictable promise of freedom, but their addition came much too late to help Johnny Reb.
Lee surrendered on April 9, , but it would not be until August 20, that President Andrew Johnson would officially declare the war over. Where is Texas in all of this? Texas was readmitted to the Union on March 30, Slave owners and male family members did venture off to fight for the Confederacy, leaving, in some cases, male slaves in charge of running plantations and farms.
Only 30 percent of Texas families owned slaves in , and only 2 percent of those held 20 or more slaves. Yet, the war certainly had a toll on Texas. But, in the early months of , Texas newspapers still contained advertisements of slaves for sale as Texans went about their slave-holding business as usual openly defying compliance with the proclamation. Some Texas slaves reported being in bondage as much as six years after emancipation, and after Juneteenth, blacks were murdered, lynched, and harassed by whites.
The same held true for sympathizing whites. That was the mood that greeted Gen. Granger was sent to command the Department of Texas and among his first duties was announcing General Order No. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and of property, between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them, becomes that between employer and hired labor: The Freedmen are advised to remain at their present homes, and work for wages.
They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts; and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere. Why had it taken so long for the word about emancipation to reach this state?
There are varying accounts, some myths, of why the news was delayed in getting to Texas. Take your pick:. Freedom had come to Texas slaves. Blacks were happy, Whites were scared, and large segments of both groups generally had no idea what to make of the situation. One former slave, Felix Haywood offered this insight in the Slave Narratives. We all felt like heroes … just like that we were free. They went right on giving us food just the same.
Nobody took our homes, but right off colored folks started on the move. They seemed to want to get close to freedom … like it was a place or a city. We thought we were going to get rich like the white folks. Frederick Douglass. Eli Whitney. Horace Greeley. David Tod. William Carney. Jefferson Davis. Slave auction house. For three hours, the president greeted officers, diplomats, politicians and the public.
Only then did he return to his study. But as he reached for his steel pen, his hand trembled. Almost imperceptibly, Lincoln hesitated. He certainly did not want anyone to think that his signature might appear tremulous because he harbored uncertainty about his action. Ultimately, it was Lincoln who declared his own verdict on his legacy when he affixed his signature that afternoon in If my name goes into history, it will be for this act, and my whole soul is in it. The Inkwell used by Lincoln, the Proclamation draft and Lincoln's pen.
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