What Really Happened on Juneteenth?: The Real Story Behind General Granger’s Arrival in Texas
Most of the real story of Juneteenth is never told. General Gordan Granger delivered the announcement of freedom that slavery was over in Texas. Really? General Granger sided with the white supremacists in trying to damp down the meaning of freedom for Black people.
In short, the slave master’s concerns that Blacks would take revenge, refuse to work, and become the equal of whites was really scary for the slave owners who were lucky not to be executed, as they should have been by Union forces. Freedom did not really exist in Texas years after the Emancipation order was issued or made public.
Order Number 3 and the 13th Amendment Preserved Slavery by Another Name
Juneteenth was sabotaged at birth by the wording in the 13th Amendment which allowed slavery to continue by another name. The famous Order Number 3, issued on June 19, 1865, forced Blacks to sign labor contracts forcing many to return to evil masters that forced them to work for free for years.
Often, the slave master would not pay any wages that would sustain an independent life by claiming that these former slaves got free food (the worst food), free clothes (rags), and free shelter (old dilapidated leaky huts with dirt floors). If former slaves could not find a plantation they wanted to work at, they were arrested for vagrancy. One had to work under the order or be charged with vagrancy (now called unlawful assembly). Even if they found a decent person to work for, they might be forced away and reported that they belonged at another plantation.
Violence Against Freedmen and Protection for Slaveholders
Between 1865 and 1867, racist whites murdered many Blacks who tried to leave their former masters. Gordan Granger wanted to make the former slave owners feel safe while the supposed free people were treated to hell. Some plantation owners chased Blacks off of some plantations because they refused to pay wages for work, while other plantation owners refused to let Blacks leave at gun point.
Celebrating Was a Death Sentence
Some Blacks were killed if they were caught celebrating freedom on the plantation and some were shot dead if they screamed for joy or showed any sign of jubilation. Some freemen were hunted down and shot if they were caught telling others that they were free.
Gordon Granger used forced labor contracts which allowed former slave owners to take control of millions of acres of land and deny Blacks land. Under Texas vagrancy laws it became the weapon to convict Blacks, to prevent them from getting land that would have given Blacks generational wealth. On the other hand, Whites were given millions of acres of land for free, much like what happened in 1836 when white supremacists stole land from Mexico, and even before that stole land from Indigenous People.
From Slavery to Convict Leasing: The Legal Rebranding of Forced Labor
Thus, the lazy plantation owners were given a pathway to wealth and Blacks would be given nothing but Jim Crow laws. In General Order 3, Gordon Granger required Blacks to stay away from army bases for protection, and have passes when traveling signed by a plantation owner.
In fact, Granger’s order set in motion not just the vagrancy laws, but also set up the convict labor system to make the former slave owners wealthy again. Those convicted of any crime would be sent back to the plantation to work for free.
Juneteenth should be celebrated but know the details of how Gordan Granger set it up to benefit the slave owners that were worried about losing their wealth. Much of the white supremacy we see today might not have taken place if the real meaning of freedom had been implemented. Celebrate with knowledge.
