Today in History: On
June 19, 1865 General Gordon Granger stood on the balcony of Ashton Villa, in
Galveston Texas and read “General Order NO. 3.” It called for the quality of
personal rights for slaves who were now considered free. It advised the freemen
to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages from their former
owners. It also informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military
post and that they will not be supported in idleness either at their present
state or elsewhere. However the most
interesting thing of all General Gordon Granger of the Union army brought the “Buffalo
Soldiers” with him to enforce the law.
The “Buffalo Soldiers” where a group of soldiers of African descent, that fought for the
Union Army (The North Army). Today Juneteenth (a portmanteau word for June
19) is a day that the Buffalo Soldiers came to Texas to enforce the law.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juneteenth
