To understand the huge importance of the end of slavery, we have to understand the profound dimensions of slavery. We have deliberately blocked out such knowledge. Slavery was so terrible that we don’t want to remember it. We don’t want to talk or read, or see movies or television programs about slavery. It is too painful. We act the way many respond to truly traumatic events such as brutal rapes. We often refuse to remember. Even when we don’t remember slavery, its impact is still deep and manifests itself in many ways. We cannot celebrate the end of slavery if we refuse to remember slavery.
Slavery in these United States of America was the worse form of slavery in the world. This slavery took the identity of enslaved people. No other slavery did such extreme things. All of the elements of identity were forcibly taken - names, family, religion, history, language; ownership of self; ownership of material things; and rights to protect oneself or loved ones. Everything that makes us know who one is was taken. And other things were substituted in their places. The end of slavery was monumental.
Imagine not being able to name ourselves or our children without permission from the persons claiming to own us. Imagine all of our family – mother, father, children – being taken from us. Imagine our entire history being taken. Imagine not being able to own anything, not even the clothes on our backs. Imagine having no right to defend ourselves or our loved ones even from rape and murder. Imagine not being able to speak English again and being forced to speak a language we don’t know. Imagine knowing our children and children’s children will also endure this horrible slavery for all of their lives. The forcible taking of identity is just one dimension of slavery, but it is the most complex and long-lasting.
Then there was the ever-present violence and fear. There were the long years of hard labor without pay. There were prohibitions against reading, writing, growing food, and owning farm animals. There were the manipulations to cause mistrust. Enslaved people could not travel even to another plantation without permission. All these things and more were endured for the full length of their lives and the lives of their children and children’s children. The end of slavery was monumental.
The U.S. Supreme Court set forth the essence of White supremacy in the Dred Scott case. It stated that people of African descent were considered subhuman and had no rights that White men were bound to respect. In other words, Black people were animals and, therefore, had no more rights than a hog or cow. As animals, Black people could not eat with White people, touch White people, have social interaction with White people, learn certain things, or have any rights to defend themselves.
It took a terrible war – the American Civil War – to bring an end to this deeply embedded and destructive institution of slavery. The Civil War was also monumental. This War claimed more than 600,000 lives. And slavery, in a broad sense, was ended by the Civil War. And people wanted to forget both slavery and the Civil War. They wanted to forget the Civil War because of all the losses of human lives, property, freedoms, status, etc. They wanted to forget slavery because it was so grossly inhuman. So, the story of the Civil War was transformed in its fundamental purpose. For some, the war has not ended. The manifestations of slavery were also transformed so that they could not be recognized. Eventually, it became nearly taboo to mention slavery. Every time I raise the issue of slavery in Sketches, some 155 years later, I ruffle some feathers. The end of slavery was monumental.
Slavery ended in piecemeal fashion. The end of slavery commenced with more and more enslaved people running away. It continued with the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, but few enslaved people were actually freed because the Proclamation applied only to states or places actively in rebellion. The President had no power to enforce the Proclamation in areas of rebellion. However, many more enslaved persons ran away after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued. Enslaved people forged freedom with their feet. Some 200,000 African Americans fought for freedom in the Civil War. Then the war ended, and the movement toward the end of slavery continued.
The last people in slave states were notified of their freedom in Galveston, Texas on June 19, 1865. Slavery was still legal in some states. Then the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution - ratified on December 6, 1865 - officially abolished slavery in these United States. The end of slavery was monumental, but there is no widespread celebration of such a powerful event. The end of slavery was monumental.
A very few celebrate the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1st. A few celebrate Juneteenth. No one celebrates the ratification of the 13th Amendment on December 6. No one celebrates the end of the Civil War on April 9th. There are just too many perceived endings of slavery, so few celebrate. The end of slavery was monumental, but we don’t know it.
EPILOGUE – Celebrations are important. They help us remember important events. They help us value the past. They help us appreciate the foundation we stand on. They help us understand how the past impacts the present and the future. The end of slavery must be celebrated. That’s why I celebrate Juneteenth.
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