Maryland Governor Wes Moore don yarn about di difference between liberation and freedom during di opening ceremony of di 2026 Scotland Juneteenth Heritage Festival, wey happen for one of Montgomery County oldest historic Black communities.
For Cabin John Regional Park, Moore join local dignitaries, including descendants of William Dove, di first formerly enslaved man wey buy 36 acres of farmland for 1880 for $210, for area wey now be Potomac.
Moore talk say ending slavery na important moment of liberation, wey Juneteenth dey celebrate, “but liberation no be freedom.” Even after liberation, Moore say “di idea of freedom become something wey still remain elusive.”
When Dove purchase property for di Scotland community, Moore yarn say economic empowerment na step toward freedom. “Di freedom to dey able to own more than you owe. A freedom to dey able to pass something along to your children besides debt. A freedom to dey able to walk freely, knowing say you suppose dey able to feel safe for your own community, for your own neighborhood, and for your own skin,” Moore yarn.
Juneteenth na federal holiday wey dey celebrate di announcement for Texas on June 19, 1865, say enslaved Americans don free. Dat announcement come late because while General Robert E. Lee surrender im Army of Northern Virginia to General Ulysses S. Grant on April 9, 1865, e no be until June 2 wey General Edmund Kirby Smith surrender di Trans-Mississippi Department, di last major army of di Confederacy, to di United States, for Galveston, Texas. Smith then flee to Mexico.
On June 19, 1865, Union General Gordon Granger arrive Galveston wit 2,000 U.S. Army soldiers to take charge of di troops wey dey Texas. Dat day, e issue General Order Number 3. E read: “Di people of Texas dey informed say, in accordance wit a proclamation from di Executive of di United States, all slaves dey free. Dis involve an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and di connection wey before exist between dem become dat between employer and hired labor.”
Granger order refer to di Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863, wey declare say Americans wey dey enslaved for states wey dey for rebellion against di United States “shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and di Executive Government of di United States, including di military and naval authority thereof, go recognize and maintain di freedom of such persons.” Granger dey inform di people of Galveston say, Texas wey don be for rebellion on January 1, 1863, dia world don change. Di federal government go see to am say, going forward, white people and Black people go dey equal.
Black people for Galveston meet di news wit joy. Dem cry, sing, pray, and hug each other. But di news no change di reality of Black Americans wey don fight and die for di United States. Dem work as soldiers, nurses, and day laborers for di Union army. Many Black women, children, and old men don already find freedom by crossing into Union lines. But white former Confederates for Texas dey demoralized and angered by di changes for dia circumstances. “E look like everything worth living for don go,” Texas cattleman Charles Goodnight later recall.
For summer 1865, white legislators for di states of di former Confederacy grudgingly ratify di Thirteenth Amendment, wey abolish enslavement except as punishment for crime. But dem also pass laws to keep freedpeople subservient to dia white neighbors. Dese laws, wey dem call di Black Codes, vary by state, but dem generally bind Black Americans to yearlong contracts working for fields wey white men own; prohibit Black people from meeting for groups, owning guns or property, or testifying for court; outlaw interracial marriage; and permit white men to buy out di jail terms of Black people wey dem convict of a wide swath of petty crimes and then force dem former prisoners into labor to pay off dia debt.
Congress refuse to readmit di southern states wit di Black Codes for place, and for December 1865, Americans add di Thirteenth Amendment to di Constitution. Six months later, Texas freedpeople gather on June 19, 1866, to celebrate di anniversary of di coming of dia freedom wit prayers, speeches, food, and socializing. By den, congressmen don turn to guaranteeing say states no fit pass discriminatory laws against citizens wey live for dem, laws like di Black Codes.
For 1866 dem write and pass di Fourteenth Amendment to di Constitution. Its first section establish say “All persons born or naturalized for di United States, and subject to di jurisdiction thereof, dey citizens of di United States and of di State wherein dem reside.” E go on: “No State go make or enforce any law wey go abridge di privileges or immunities of citizens of di United States; nor go any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction di equal protection of di laws.”
Dat na di whole ball game, di one wey go put teeth behind di principles for di Emancipation Proclamation. Di federal government don declare say a state legislature—no matter who elect am or what voters call for—no fit discriminate against any of its citizens or arbitrarily take away any of a citizen rights. Den, like di Thirteenth Amendment before am, di Fourteenth declare say “Congress go get di power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, di provisions of dis article,” strengthening di federal government.
Rather than accept dis new state of affairs, leading white southerners decide dem prefer remain under military rule. So for March 1867, Congress pass di Military Reconstruction Act, calling for southern voters to elect delegates to new state constitutional conventions. Black men fit vote for dose elections. Three months later di federal government, eager to explain to Black citizens dia new voting rights, encourage “Juneteenth” celebrations, and di tradition of Juneteenth begin to spread to Black communities across di nation.
Di next year, di addition of di Fourteenth Amendment to di Constitution remake di United States of America. For 1865, Juneteenth na celebration of freedom and di war end. For 1866, e celebrate di addition of di Fourteenth Amendment to di U.S. Constitution after di Thirteenth Amendment don ratify. For 1867, Juneteenth na celebration of di freedom of Black men to vote, di very real power of having a say for di government under wey dem live.
Celebrations of Juneteenth decline during di Jim Crow years of di late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, but as Black Americans from di South spread across di country during and after World War II, dem bring Juneteenth wit dem. By di 1980s, Texas don establish Juneteenth as a state holiday. Oda states follow, and for 2021, thanks for part to pressure from activist Opal Lee, Congress make Juneteenth a federal holiday and President Joe Biden sign di measure into law.
But throughout our history, dose wey determine to preserve a government wey discriminate between Americans according to race, gender, religion, ability, and so on, don embrace di idea say true democracy require skewing di vote toward di wealthy and white men. Dem also don insist, as former Confederates do for di late 1860s, say any laws protecting di equal rights of minorities discriminate against di white majority. Today, dose voices dey, once again, gaining traction. One hundred and sixty-one years after Juneteenth don establish, we dey for danger of losing di new nation wey e celebrate—one wey go honor di equality of all Americans.
