Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, and read General Orders No. 3, freeing 250,000 enslaved people who should have already been free for two years. But that’s only part of the Juneteenth story.
Black troops marched alongside Granger and went plantation to plantation to deliver the message that “all slaves are free.” Two years later and on the other side of the border, Juneteenth came again.
According to historian Gerald Horne, ex-Confederate planters were working with the French-backed regime of Maximilian I in Mexico to bring formerly enslaved people to Mexico as indentured labor in violation of US law.
Some of the Confederates brought their formerly enslaved workers to Mexico but they promptly escaped. And 16,000 Black troops standing at the Texas-Mexico border gave the French second thoughts about supporting them. The insurrection ended on June 19, 1867, with the execution of Maximilian I.
Juneteenth isn’t about benevolent oppressors letting enslaved people go. They did everything to keep it going. Some enslavers preferred killing our ancestors to freeing them. They never wanted slavery to end.
Juneteenth is about us. We took our freedom. Fought tooth and nail for it for generations and stopped slavery when they wanted to keep us in bondage forever. Our strategy, resilience, and determination are worthy of celebration for lifetimes to come.
Happy Juneteenth!