The People, Process, & Progress Podcast - Come with Me on America's Journey from Emancipation to Juneteenth | PPP #28

Episode Date: June 19, 2020

A high-level overview of the timeline between President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation through the freeing of enslaved people on "Juneteenth."

Please silence your cell phones, hold all sidebar conversations to a minimum, and we will get started with People Process Progress in 3, 2, 1. Hey everybody, Kevin Pinnell, host of this People Process Progress podcast. Welcome to the Juneteenth 2020 edition. I first heard about Juneteenth actually on the show Black-ish, which is an ABC show starring Anthony Anderson, who plays Dre, who's the father of the family, Tracy Ellis Ross, who plays Rainbow, who's the mom, Lawrence Fishburne, Pop, who's the grandfather, and Jennifer Lewis, Ruby, who's the grandmother.

And then Dre and Rainbow have four children. They have two daughters and two sons. The show does an outstanding job of, one, being funny, but also covering different socio-political, through comedy, but sometimes just straight talk. They cover things from racism to postpartum depression, being parents of kids, being couples. And it's problems that everyone has, but particularly through the lens of a black family. And great show. So if you haven't watched it, go watch that. But that's the first time I heard of Juneteenth and, you know, shows. I didn't know my American history, my full American history as well as I should have.

Know some Civil War things, but focus more on kind of the military, you know, battle stuff. Knew that, you know, the North part of their purpose was to free the slaves. Those we'll talk about wasn't the only purpose. It was preserving the Union. And then what came along with Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation mentioned that. But as we'll see, and so to educate myself, to share some knowledge with you all in this episode, this 28th episode of People Process Progress from Emancipation to Juneteenth, I said, you know, let me do some research. So I used history.com. Great resource there. Pretty,

pretty reputable. And then IMDB to get the blackish just to make sure I got the, you know, the actors and actresses right. But for the content, what I wanted to talk about, because those are, those are big things, right? Juneteenth now, especially with more awareness these days after the George Floyd incident and protests and everything that's happening and really America coming to terms in a reckoning and kind of making things right more and more throughout the years. Juneteenth is prevalent. Where I live in Virginia, it's actually a holiday today. And it's going to be a state holiday and who knows a federal holiday. And we'll get into that a little bit later. So I thought, let me provide some synopsis, some quick cliff notes

of the Emancipation Proclamation. And as we do here, I'm going to talk about the people, what was the process to get there? And then what was the process to get to Juneteenth? And what was the progress made then and then afterwards, right? And not a comprehensive social studies course, but you know, hopefully something helpful in this short episode. So can't talk about emancipation without talking about the person that wrote the Emancipation Proclamation, and that was the President, Abraham Lincoln, right? US Congress was also involved, and certainly the enslaved African Americans in America, you know, and their slave owners and other folks in the Union as well. But speaking of Lincoln, so he hated slavery, right? And he considered it immoral. But, you know,

according to these resources, and if you know about Lincoln, in government, right, part of the strength of the American government is we don't have where tanks roll down the street because the regime that's in charge of the entire country just comes in or they whisper, you know, whisk people away or like some other countries do. And so as imperfect as America is, it is way better than other places that we could live. So we have the federal powers, the state powers, locality powers, and you know, there's there's states, right? So while Lincoln hated slavery and considered it immoral, he didn't believe that the Constitution gave him the right to abolish it

and states already existed, only to prevent its establishment as the United States grew. Because remember, in the 1850s, 1860s, America wasn't 100% complete yet as we expanded out west. So again, looking at Lincoln and him thinking he didn't have the federal power to tell states what to do. He did know that he wanted to do something about it, but it wasn't 100% to just abolish slavery, something that he hated, that he knew it was wrong. It is totally wrong in America and across the world. Unfortunately, it still exists in some places.

So what he did is he worked with the government. And this is where we start to get into the process piece of it. And so in July of 1862, Congress did pass a Militia Act. And so what that allowed was black men to serve in the U.S. Armed Forces as laborers. And then the Conflictation Act mandated that enslaved people seized from Confederate supporters were declared free. So not perfect, but a bit of a process to say, hey, if you are African American or black in the U.S., you can be in the U.S. Armed Forces. Now it was laborers, right? It didn't say immediately you can serve. And one of my favorite movies I've ever seen is Glory. His star noir did a review of that

that movie from the perspective of an African American woman, right? I have my perspective as a Caucasian person. I think it highlighted great the opportunity, the skill that the 54th Massachusetts provided for an African American regiment. And so go check that movie out too, if you haven't. But at first it was laborers, right? So still here you can be part of the effort, but not completely fight with muskets and things like that. If you are freed though from, you know, capture from the Confederates, then you're going to be free. And so that is a huge step as opposed to, okay, we captured you. Now you're going to work for us, which certainly, you know, slavery, when it was still the slavery we're talking about in the 1860s, wasn't necessarily a free pass just because, you know, you were

captured off of Confederate land or from Confederate forces. So here's a quote from Lincoln as well that speaks to wanting to preserve the Union so preserve the United States but not you know focusing so much right now on ending slavery again thinking of his federal versus state powers and so he says my paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union and is not either to save or to destroy slavery so this was in an editorial that was in the Daily National Intelligence or in August of 1862. So in July, there's Congress Militia Act, Confiscation Act. So hey, you can help out. Hey, if we if we capture or defeat this Confederate folks, you'll be free. And then Lincoln does this interview in August. He says, Hey, you know,

I want to preserve the Union. But right now, it's not 100% focused on slavery. But the next month, on September 22nd, 1862, and some battles had happened, and so the Civil War is raging, and President Lincoln does have this preliminary Emancipation Proclamation that says, hey, as of January of next year, all enslaved people in the states currently engaged in rebellion against the union shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free. So think about what I just said. If you were in rebellion against the union, it didn't say all states, right? So it's still a process of, well, a huge step it's a military movement right so it only to implied you know only applied to enslaved people in the confederacy but not states that were border states and that remained loyal to the union right so again it's a military action so if you can kind

of you know stir insurrection if you will in your enemy's territory. So think about that. He says, hey, everyone in the country, and who knows when they got word or if, you know, slaves got word in the South and how many did or didn't. And I'm sure there's research and stuff on that. So I apologize for not having that. But again, it's a it's a it's a union versus Confederacy. So he can't even, you know, totally force them other than through the Civil War to do that. And it wasn't, hey, every state in America. But it was a key change, right? It was a shift that was documented that said, me from the president of the United States, from the union, one, we're going to preserve the union.

But yes, we also are now focusing a lot more on slavery. So, you know, what this also allowed is once the emancipation was officially issued in January of 1863, is it did allow black Ameras to serve in the union army for the first time. And that was, and by the time the war was over, the civil war was over nearly 200,000 people or 200,000 African Americans would do that. So an amazing contribution to preserve the nation that we all have today from folks that some were born free, like was highlighted in glory. I know it's a movie, but, um, some were slaves that came up and said, Hey, I'm going to fight to free everybody else. So fighting for the cause of their fellow slaves, of their fellow African Americans, of their fellow Americans. And 200,000 folks did that.

So that's pretty amazing. Of the emancipation, I'm going to read the whole emancipation here in a second. Lincoln said, it is my greatest and most enduring contribution to the history of the war. It is, in fact, the central act of my administration and the great event of the 19th century. I would say that, right at that point in history, given that, you know, slavery is largely viewed as starting in the United States at 16, 1619. That had been a while, right? While people had been enslaved, African Americans had been enslaved. So it was a huge, huge change in the course of this country. Did it make it perfect? Initially, absolutely not. There would still be, you know, some folks that were still oppressed,

still not freed on through the civil rights movement in 1960s, where, you know, everyone, you know, gets a vote and is treated the same, and we're still working through that today. But at the time of the 1860s, it was a huge deal. So I think it's always good to get a little refresher, or if you've never heard this before, to hear what were Lincoln's words, what did the Emancipation Proclamation say from the President of the United States of America. So here we go. A proclamation. Whereas on the 22nd day of September in the year of our Lord, 1862, a proclamation was issued by the President of the

United States containing among other things, the following to wit, that on the first day of January in the year of our Lord, 1863, all persons held as slaves within any state or designated part of a state, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free. And the executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom. That the executive will, on the first day of January, and foresaid, by proclamation, designate the states and parts of states, if any, in which the people thereof, respectively, shall then be in

rebellion against the United States, and the fact that any state or the people thereof shall on that day be, in good faith, represented in the Congress of the United States by members chosen thereto at elections wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such state shall have participated shall in the absence of strong countervailing testimony be deemed conclusive evidence that such state and the people thereof are not then in rebellion against the united states now therefore i abraham lincoln president of the united states by virtue of the power in me vested as commander-in-chief the army and navy of the united states in vested as Commander-in-Chief, the Army and Navy of the United States, in time of actual armed rebellion against the authority and government of the United States,

and as a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing said rebellion due, on this first day of January, in the year of our Lord, 1863, and in accordance with my purpose, so do publicly proclaimed for the full period of 100 days from the day first above mentioned order and designate as the states and parts of states wherein the, Plaquemines, Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. James Ascension, Assumption, Terrebonne, Lafourche, St. Mary, St. Martin, and Orleans, including the city of New Orleans, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, except the 48 counties designated as West Virginia, and also the counties of Berkeley, Acomac, Northampton, Elizabeth City, York, Princess Anne, and Norfolk, including the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth, and which accepted parts are for the present left precisely as of this proclamation were not issued. And by the virtue of the power and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated states and parts of states are,

and henceforward shall be free, and that the executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons. And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free to abstain from all violence, unless a necessary self-defense, and I recommend to them that, in all cases when allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonable wages. And I further declare, and make known, that such persons of suitable condition will be received into the armed service of the United States to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service. And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution, upon military necessity,

I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind in the gracious favor of Almighty God. And witness whereof I have, hereunto, set my hand, and cause the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done, at the City of Washington Washington this first day of January in the year of our Lord, 1863 and of the independence of the United States of America, the 87th. Wow. So as we mentioned a little bit earlier, military action, also including freeing slaves in the states that are part of the rebellion, with some exceptions there that I wasn't aware of, and some states and some southern states. And if you notice, he mentioned once you're free, let's not resort to violence unless it's self-defense.

Let's work resort to violence unless it's self-defense. Let's work for wages. So an interesting take from President Lincoln on asking for folks that he had just freed that had been oppressed, that had probably had horrible things done to them to not resort to violence, to then work for wages. But imagine that transition if it happened or where it happened in the different southern states, going from being a slave to now being an employee. If, you know, just just a crazy time, I think, from looking at it, you know, from 2000 and from 2020 to this year, 1865, and the state that America was in then just a huge change. Right. And so much progress has been made. And we have, again, more progress to make. and the state that America was in then. Just a huge change, right? And so much progress has been made. And we have, again, more progress to make. So that was the Emancipation Proclamation. That was some of the information, the process of going, you know,

kind of beforehand, Lincoln looking at his own process, right? His moral compass combined with his service to country, his understanding of federal or state powers, right and wrong, making a military move, but also then setting the tone for moral move and moral victory and push for that. So pretty amazing. So what about progress? What about the real progress? Because it would be another, was it two, two and a half years from the proclamation until actual Juneteenth when slaves were free, right? So civil war is still going on. You know, the proclamation, the Emancipation Proclamation was, as we said, a military measure. It did, you know, free slaves officially, you know, per policy. But the Civil

War still raged on. And, you know, it wasn't officially official. So what is Juneteenth? So Juneteenth is short for June 19. Right. So that's today, June 19 2020. Then it was June 19 1865. So that was when federal troops arrived in Galison texas and took control of the state and then said okay all slaves are free right it was two and a half years after emancipation as we mentioned lee had surrendered to appomattox but slavery was still in effect and relatively unaffected in texas so there was a general named gordonanger that went to Texas and he read, it's called General Order Number Three. The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a proclamation from the executive of the United States, all slaves are free. So that was 250,000

enslaved people in Texas that were now free. To add insult to injury, even with that proclamation, even with the union in control of Texas, even with them saying, hey, you're now free, 250,000 people, there were some slave owners, some folks that didn't pass the information on so they could get through harvest season.

So pretty crappy. That December, more progress was made. Slavery was officially abolished in America with the adoption of the 13th Amendment. So through the Civil War, through Lincoln's moral compass, through the human thing to do, through using his executive power as military power, making those leadership decisions, we saw the process of the institution of slavery in the United States being chipped away at little by little, then officially being deemed, you know, with the 13th Amendment to the Constitution put in place. And so Juneteenth was that date,

but then the celebration of it started as Jubilee Day. And so that was the next year. There were free men in Texas that organized what became known as Jubilee Day on June 19th. So that was the first kind of celebration. And then Texas both, you know, for the first celebration and then led the way in making it the first state that officially celebrated Juneteenth in 1979. So they led that. and the state that I live in Virginia is looking to do that as well. And you know, now 47 states and this information from history.com was updated this June 2020. So it's pretty up to date. So 47, you know, states are

have it as a state holiday, Virginia is headed that way. And there's a comment here on the history.com info of you know, that efforts to make a federal holiday have stalled so that's a very brief um you know just under 20 minutes we're just approaching that now history from emancipation to juneteenth i know for me it was very educational um learning about this celebration that i had kind of heard of heard about on blackish again check out the show one for this episode which is like season four episode one but also because it's a great show and then certainly do some history and do your research learn American history full American history a little more research learning you know more about others about again the full

picture of America will let us learn about all people, let us appreciate all people a little bit more. Certainly help us look at the America has gone through. No country is perfect. This one is pretty darn good, though. And help us all make progress. We're all looking to make progress together, right? No one race, no one culture, no one religion, no one group can do it by themselves. And in America, that hasn't happened, right? Some with horrible relationships like slavery, some with great relationships, you know, where people have, you know, crossed the divide. We see that even in the unrest today of,

you know, protesters and police shaking hands, kneeling together, praying together, doing whatever. We're all humans, right? And there are some bad humans out there and there's some great humans out there. So thank you humans for listening to this show, for getting this little history lesson super brief. There's way more to learn, way better experts than me. But I appreciate every listen, every download, every contact for folks that want to be on the show, that have been on the show.

Stay safe out there. Wash your hands. And Godspeed.