The Second Continental Congress declared that “all men are created equal” in the Declaration of Independence. In reality, equality applied to only white male landowners. Overtime, that definition of equality has expanded to include women, indigenous communities, and people of color.
In June 1865, Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas with roughly 2,000 Union Soldiers. Though his main goal was to bring an end to the Civil War and welcome Texas back into the Union, he had another objective. On June 19, Granger issued General Orders No. 3 declaring that “the people of Texas are informed in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States all slaves are free.” While the Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Abraham Lincoln legally freed slaves throughout the Confederate States, Texas resisted for two years. Granger’s order had the effect of liberating 250,000 people who had been in enslaved in Texas.
What was the U.S. Army’s role in the liberation of enslaved persons throughout the Confederacy?
Virtual Field Trip –“The Long Road to Freedom: The U.S. Army and Juneteenth”