As the U.S. celebrates the second federal holiday honoring Juneteenth, several myths persist about the origins and history about what happened when enslaved people were emancipated in Texas.
on Jan. 1, 1863, and it's outrageous that it took two and a half years for the news to finally reach enslaved people in Texas.: Many slaves knew about Lincoln's executive order emancipating them. The news was widely covered in Texas newspapers—with an anti-abolitionist spin—and Black people would have overheard white people discussing it in private and in public. Moreover,"There was an incredibly sophisticated communication network among slaves in Texas," says Edward T.
."It wasn't that all these poor people didn't get the message," she says,"It was that there was no one enforcing it, no one making it happen!": Major Gen. Gordon Granger penned General Orders No. 3, the Juneteenth Order, and is credited with freeing Texas slaves.: The order—which includes the powerful language"all slaves are free" and"absolute equality"—was actually written by Granger's staff officer, Maj.
was then called. Most enslaved people in Texas learned of General Orders No. 3 when the slavemaster called them together and read them the news.Fact "The freed 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."