June 19, 2021 • 12 mins
On this day in 1865, Major General Gordon Granger announced the abolition of slavery in Galveston, Texas. The day is now commemorated as Juneteenth. / On this day in 1917, revolutionary and politician Joshua Nkomo was born in Matebeleland in modern-day Zimbabwe.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey y'all, we're rerunning two episodes today. Enjoy the show. Hi,
I'm Eves, and Welcome to This Day in History Class,
a show that on covers history one day at a time.
(00:20):
The day was June nine, eighteen sixty five. Union soldiers
were in Galveston, Texas, a state where the presence of
Union troops was low and thousands of people remained enslaved.
The Emancipation Proclamation went into effect two years prior, outlawing
slavery in the Confederate States, but Texas was isolated and
(00:43):
the proclamation was not enforced in the state when it
was not outright challenged. So on this day, Major General
Gordon Granger announced to the people of Texas the Emancipation
of enslaved People. June nine is now recognized as an
independ Pendence Day and marked by celebrations that honor Black
Americans freedom from slavery. On September eighteen sixty two, a
(01:09):
year after the start of the U s Civil War
and centuries after the first Africans were enslaved in the
modern United States, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.
The proclamation said that all enslaved people in the rebellious
Confederate states were declared free, and it took effect on
January one, eighteen sixty three. The proclamation also announced that
(01:32):
black men would be able to enlist in the Union
Army and Navy, and hundreds of thousands of black men
did fight for the Union during the war, but it
only applied to states that had seceded from the US.
Slavery remained legal in the border states or slave owning
states that did not join the Confederacy, as well as
(01:53):
Union controlled rebel areas, so the proclamation did not outright
in slavery in America. News of the proclamation took a
while to spread in Texas, the most western state, and
the Confederacy was removed from a lot of the Civil
War action. Slaveholders had migrated in large numbers from Eastern
(02:14):
states to Texas to get out of war torn areas
and shirk emancipation enforcement. By eighteen sixty five, around two
hundred and fifty thousand people were enslaved in Texas. Confederate
General Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia
surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant on April nights,
(02:35):
eighteen sixty five, but the Army of the trans Mississippi
and other rebels kept fighting for months after. Galveston, Texas,
was a major Confederate port since Texas seceded from the
United States. The city had been blockaded by the Union,
occupied by the U. S. Navy, and recaptured by the Confederacy.
(02:57):
But on June two, General Edmund Kirby Smith signed surrender
terms for the Confederate trans Mississippi Department aboard the U. S. S.
Fort Jackson and Galveston Harbor. It was the last major
Confederate command to surrender. On June, Major General Gordon Granger
arrived in Galveston with two thousand Federal troops. The next day,
(03:20):
Granger read General Orders number three at the Headquarters District
of Texas and Galveston. He said the following, The people
of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation
from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free.
This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights
(03:40):
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 quietly at their present
homes and work for wages. They are informed that they
will not be allowed to collect at military area posts
(04:01):
and that they will not be supported in idleness, either
there or elsewhere. But as with the Emancipation Proclamation, change
was not immediate in all encompassing. Many slave owners did
not relay news of the announcement and free enslaved people
until after the harvest. Some forced free people to work anyway.
(04:22):
Though the order encouraged black people to stay with their
former owners, many left to find family or to move north,
in a process that was dubbed the scatter. Some formerly
enslaved people were beaten or murdered after they attempted to
fulfill their freedom. In December of eighteen sixty five, the
thirteenth Amendment to the U. S Constitution, abolishing slavery in
(04:43):
the United States, was ratified. The next year, the freed
black people of Texas celebrated June nineteenth and recognition of
Granger's eighteen sixty five announcement. June tenth, as June nineteenth
came to be known, became a day that marked freedom
and progress, honored through readings of the Emancipation Proclamation, games, food,
(05:04):
and religious sermons. The Friedman's Bureau was established in eighteen
sixty five to deal with the social reconstruction necessary in
the aftermath of the Civil War. But even then, records
exist of black people who were still illegally enslaved in
Texas and other states, and the black folks who were
emancipated still faced the problems of lack of shelter, food,
(05:28):
and resources, on top of the codified discrimination and racist
violence that proliferated at the time. Since the eighteen hundreds,
the celebration of Juneteenth has spread from Texas and throughout
the United States. I'm Eaves, Jeffcote, and hopefully you know
a little more about history today than you did yesterday.
(05:49):
Just an additional note that after Juneteenth, black people needed
places to gather to celebrate, as white people had barth
them from using their public spaces. They began raising money
to buy their own spots to celebrate Juneteenth. Emancipation Park
in Houston, Texas, which opened in eighteen seventy two, was
one such space. We love it if you left us
(06:10):
a comment on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook. At T d
I h C podcast, I'm guessing that you love history
because you just listen to an episode of This Day
in History Class. You can listen to more history by
checking out my Nutell Unpopular. It's a show about people
(06:30):
in history who challenge the status quo and we're sometimes
persecuted for it. Thanks for listening and we'll see you tomorrow. Hey, y'all,
(06:50):
I'm Eves and welcome to This Day and History Class,
a podcast that brings you a new slice of history
every day. The day was June nineteenth, nineteen seventeen. Revolutionary
and politician Joshua and Como was born in Madabiley Land
(07:11):
in modern day Zimbabwe. And Como led the Zimbabwe African
Pupils Union and served as second Vice President of Zimbabwe
from nineteen nine to nine. In September of eighteen ninety,
the Pioneer column of the British South African Company raised
the British flag at Fort Salisbury or present day Harari.
(07:33):
British columnists called the area Southern Rhodesia after imperialists and
politician Cecil Rhodes. Over the next decade, white people arrived
in large numbers and began seizing farmland and overseeing the
mining of resources like gold, chrome, ore and platinum. The
Biley and Shona people's who lived in the area were
(07:55):
displaced by the Europeans. They had made efforts to resist
British rule, but Southern Rhodesia was annexed by the United
Kingdom in nineteen twenty three. Como grew up in colonial
era Southern Rhodesia as part of an Indabelee family. As
a young adult and Como took a job as a
social welfare worker with the Rhodesia Railways. He began to
(08:17):
advocate for railway workers and helped build up the Rhodesian
Railways African Employees Association, and when the British government proposed
uniting some of his African colonies, including Southern Rhodesia, into
a federation, he was vocal about his opposition to federation.
Though the anti federation movement had many supporters, The Federation
(08:37):
of Rhodesia and Nyassa Land was formed in nineteen fifty three,
and Como gained a reputation as a committed African nationalist.
When the African National Youth League and the Boulawio branch
of the African National Congress merged in nineteen fifty seven,
Comma was elected president of the new a n C.
Through his work as president of the a n C,
(08:59):
he met a are people who were involved in anti
colonial movements. In nineteen fifty nine, the government banned the
a n C and hundreds of its members were arrested.
As Como traveled through Europe and the United States to
raise money in support for the independence movement. Members of
the a n C formed the National Democratic Party and
(09:20):
Como was declared president of the n d P, which
was later banned as well. Another party, the Zimbabwe African
People's Union or z a p U, soon formed and
was also banned. Como continued to press for international support,
but some people perceived in Como as a moderate and
doubted his commitment to the nationalist movement. Some people in
(09:42):
the z a PU broke away from the group informed
the Zimbabwe African National Union. All the while white Rhodesian
prime ministers targeted black nationalists. Prime Minister Ian Smith banished
in Como to a detention center in a remote part
of southern Rhodesia. Coma was incarcerated for ten years, but
(10:03):
his incarceration garnered him more support and increased opposition to
the Smith administration. By the time Ucoma was freed in
nineteen seventy four, nationalist groups had gained ground, and Como
directed the z A p US military, political and diplomatic
activities from Zambia. Robert Mugabi, another nationalist leader, had been
(10:26):
at odds with UNCOMO before, but the z A p
U and Mugabe's z A n YOU linked to form
the Patriotic Front and bring down white minority rule. Smith
agreed to a new constitution and Zimbabwe gained its independence
in nineteen eighty. Mugabi became Prime Minister and Minister for Defense,
(10:46):
but in COMA continued to be in conflict with Mugabi
and fighting between z A p U and z A
n U supporters escalated. After years of violence and massacres
carried out against the Indbilee by the Zimbabwe National Army,
and Como and Mugabi agreed to merge their parties into
a unified one called z A n UPS. The agreement
(11:09):
said that the party was committed to a one party state.
It also provided for and Como to become the second
of two vice presidents of Zimbabwe, in a role that
was largely symbolic. He served as second Vice president until
his death in n In his later years and Como
dealt with health issues. Many people disapproved of how he
(11:31):
handled political challenges and he lost a lot of influence. Still,
Como has been called the father of Zimbabwe Nationalism for
his leading role in the fight for independence from white
colonial rule. I'm Eve step Coote and hopefully you know
a little more about history today that you did yesterday.
And if you have any comments or suggestions, you can
(11:54):
send them to us at this day at i heart
media dot com. You can also send us a note
on social media up We're at t d I h
C podcast on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Thanks so much
for listening to the show and we'll see you tomorrow.
(12:16):
For more podcasts for my Heart Radio, visit the i
Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to
your favorite shows.
Hey y'all, we're rerunning two episodes today. Enjoy the show. Hi,
I'm Eves, and Welcome to This Day in History Class,
a show that on covers history one day at a time.
(00:20):
The day was June nine, eighteen sixty five. Union soldiers
were in Galveston, Texas, a state where the presence of
Union troops was low and thousands of people remained enslaved.
The Emancipation Proclamation went into effect two years prior, outlawing
slavery in the Confederate States, but Texas was isolated and
(00:43):
the proclamation was not enforced in the state when it
was not outright challenged. So on this day, Major General
Gordon Granger announced to the people of Texas the Emancipation
of enslaved People. June nine is now recognized as an
independ Pendence Day and marked by celebrations that honor Black
Americans freedom from slavery. On September eighteen sixty two, a
(01:09):
year after the start of the U s Civil War
and centuries after the first Africans were enslaved in the
modern United States, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.
The proclamation said that all enslaved people in the rebellious
Confederate states were declared free, and it took effect on
January one, eighteen sixty three. The proclamation also announced that
(01:32):
black men would be able to enlist in the Union
Army and Navy, and hundreds of thousands of black men
did fight for the Union during the war, but it
only applied to states that had seceded from the US.
Slavery remained legal in the border states or slave owning
states that did not join the Confederacy, as well as
(01:53):
Union controlled rebel areas, so the proclamation did not outright
in slavery in America. News of the proclamation took a
while to spread in Texas, the most western state, and
the Confederacy was removed from a lot of the Civil
War action. Slaveholders had migrated in large numbers from Eastern
(02:14):
states to Texas to get out of war torn areas
and shirk emancipation enforcement. By eighteen sixty five, around two
hundred and fifty thousand people were enslaved in Texas. Confederate
General Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia
surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant on April nights,
(02:35):
eighteen sixty five, but the Army of the trans Mississippi
and other rebels kept fighting for months after. Galveston, Texas,
was a major Confederate port since Texas seceded from the
United States. The city had been blockaded by the Union,
occupied by the U. S. Navy, and recaptured by the Confederacy.
(02:57):
But on June two, General Edmund Kirby Smith signed surrender
terms for the Confederate trans Mississippi Department aboard the U. S. S.
Fort Jackson and Galveston Harbor. It was the last major
Confederate command to surrender. On June, Major General Gordon Granger
arrived in Galveston with two thousand Federal troops. The next day,
(03:20):
Granger read General Orders number three at the Headquarters District
of Texas and Galveston. He said the following, The people
of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation
from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free.
This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights
(03:40):
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 quietly at their present
homes and work for wages. They are informed that they
will not be allowed to collect at military area posts
(04:01):
and that they will not be supported in idleness, either
there or elsewhere. But as with the Emancipation Proclamation, change
was not immediate in all encompassing. Many slave owners did
not relay news of the announcement and free enslaved people
until after the harvest. Some forced free people to work anyway.
(04:22):
Though the order encouraged black people to stay with their
former owners, many left to find family or to move north,
in a process that was dubbed the scatter. Some formerly
enslaved people were beaten or murdered after they attempted to
fulfill their freedom. In December of eighteen sixty five, the
thirteenth Amendment to the U. S Constitution, abolishing slavery in
(04:43):
the United States, was ratified. The next year, the freed
black people of Texas celebrated June nineteenth and recognition of
Granger's eighteen sixty five announcement. June tenth, as June nineteenth
came to be known, became a day that marked freedom
and progress, honored through readings of the Emancipation Proclamation, games, food,
(05:04):
and religious sermons. The Friedman's Bureau was established in eighteen
sixty five to deal with the social reconstruction necessary in
the aftermath of the Civil War. But even then, records
exist of black people who were still illegally enslaved in
Texas and other states, and the black folks who were
emancipated still faced the problems of lack of shelter, food,
(05:28):
and resources, on top of the codified discrimination and racist
violence that proliferated at the time. Since the eighteen hundreds,
the celebration of Juneteenth has spread from Texas and throughout
the United States. I'm Eaves, Jeffcote, and hopefully you know
a little more about history today than you did yesterday.
(05:49):
Just an additional note that after Juneteenth, black people needed
places to gather to celebrate, as white people had barth
them from using their public spaces. They began raising money
to buy their own spots to celebrate Juneteenth. Emancipation Park
in Houston, Texas, which opened in eighteen seventy two, was
one such space. We love it if you left us
(06:10):
a comment on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook. At T d
I h C podcast, I'm guessing that you love history
because you just listen to an episode of This Day
in History Class. You can listen to more history by
checking out my Nutell Unpopular. It's a show about people
(06:30):
in history who challenge the status quo and we're sometimes
persecuted for it. Thanks for listening and we'll see you tomorrow. Hey, y'all,
(06:50):
I'm Eves and welcome to This Day and History Class,
a podcast that brings you a new slice of history
every day. The day was June nineteenth, nineteen seventeen. Revolutionary
and politician Joshua and Como was born in Madabiley Land
(07:11):
in modern day Zimbabwe. And Como led the Zimbabwe African
Pupils Union and served as second Vice President of Zimbabwe
from nineteen nine to nine. In September of eighteen ninety,
the Pioneer column of the British South African Company raised
the British flag at Fort Salisbury or present day Harari.
(07:33):
British columnists called the area Southern Rhodesia after imperialists and
politician Cecil Rhodes. Over the next decade, white people arrived
in large numbers and began seizing farmland and overseeing the
mining of resources like gold, chrome, ore and platinum. The
Biley and Shona people's who lived in the area were
(07:55):
displaced by the Europeans. They had made efforts to resist
British rule, but Southern Rhodesia was annexed by the United
Kingdom in nineteen twenty three. Como grew up in colonial
era Southern Rhodesia as part of an Indabelee family. As
a young adult and Como took a job as a
social welfare worker with the Rhodesia Railways. He began to
(08:17):
advocate for railway workers and helped build up the Rhodesian
Railways African Employees Association, and when the British government proposed
uniting some of his African colonies, including Southern Rhodesia, into
a federation, he was vocal about his opposition to federation.
Though the anti federation movement had many supporters, The Federation
(08:37):
of Rhodesia and Nyassa Land was formed in nineteen fifty three,
and Como gained a reputation as a committed African nationalist.
When the African National Youth League and the Boulawio branch
of the African National Congress merged in nineteen fifty seven,
Comma was elected president of the new a n C.
Through his work as president of the a n C,
(08:59):
he met a are people who were involved in anti
colonial movements. In nineteen fifty nine, the government banned the
a n C and hundreds of its members were arrested.
As Como traveled through Europe and the United States to
raise money in support for the independence movement. Members of
the a n C formed the National Democratic Party and
(09:20):
Como was declared president of the n d P, which
was later banned as well. Another party, the Zimbabwe African
People's Union or z a p U, soon formed and
was also banned. Como continued to press for international support,
but some people perceived in Como as a moderate and
doubted his commitment to the nationalist movement. Some people in
(09:42):
the z a PU broke away from the group informed
the Zimbabwe African National Union. All the while white Rhodesian
prime ministers targeted black nationalists. Prime Minister Ian Smith banished
in Como to a detention center in a remote part
of southern Rhodesia. Coma was incarcerated for ten years, but
(10:03):
his incarceration garnered him more support and increased opposition to
the Smith administration. By the time Ucoma was freed in
nineteen seventy four, nationalist groups had gained ground, and Como
directed the z A p US military, political and diplomatic
activities from Zambia. Robert Mugabi, another nationalist leader, had been
(10:26):
at odds with UNCOMO before, but the z A p
U and Mugabe's z A n YOU linked to form
the Patriotic Front and bring down white minority rule. Smith
agreed to a new constitution and Zimbabwe gained its independence
in nineteen eighty. Mugabi became Prime Minister and Minister for Defense,
(10:46):
but in COMA continued to be in conflict with Mugabi
and fighting between z A p U and z A
n U supporters escalated. After years of violence and massacres
carried out against the Indbilee by the Zimbabwe National Army,
and Como and Mugabi agreed to merge their parties into
a unified one called z A n UPS. The agreement
(11:09):
said that the party was committed to a one party state.
It also provided for and Como to become the second
of two vice presidents of Zimbabwe, in a role that
was largely symbolic. He served as second Vice president until
his death in n In his later years and Como
dealt with health issues. Many people disapproved of how he
(11:31):
handled political challenges and he lost a lot of influence. Still,
Como has been called the father of Zimbabwe Nationalism for
his leading role in the fight for independence from white
colonial rule. I'm Eve step Coote and hopefully you know
a little more about history today that you did yesterday.
And if you have any comments or suggestions, you can
(11:54):
send them to us at this day at i heart
media dot com. You can also send us a note
on social media up We're at t d I h
C podcast on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Thanks so much
for listening to the show and we'll see you tomorrow.
(12:16):
For more podcasts for my Heart Radio, visit the i
Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to
your favorite shows.
This Day in History Class News
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Gabe Luzier
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