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Section. 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
Section. 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.
Section. 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.
Section. 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.
Section. 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
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(1861-64), in U.S. history, series of laws passed by the federal government during the American Civil War that were designed to liberate slaves in the seceded states. The first Confiscation Act, passed on Aug. 6, 1861, authorized Union seizure of rebel property, and it stated that all slaves who fought with or worked for the Confederate military services were freed of further obligations to their masters.
President Abraham Lincoln objected to the act on the basis that it might push border states, especially Kentucky and Missouri, into secession in order to protect slavery within their boundaries. He later convinced Congress to pass a resolution providing compensation to states that initiated a system of gradual emancipation, but the border states failed to support this plan. And Lincoln repudiated the position of Generals John C. Fr
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Also spelled KWANZA (Swahili: “First Fruits”), African-American holiday, celebrated each year from December 26 to January 1; it is patterned after various African harvest festivals.
Kwanzaa was created in 1966 by Maulana Karenga, a black-studies professor at California State University at Long Beach, as a nonreligious celebration of family and social values. By the early 1990s it was estimated to have more than 5 million celebrants. Each day of Kwanzaa is dedicated to one of seven principles: unity (umoja), self-determination (kujichagulia), collective responsibility (ujima), cooperative economics (ujamaa), purpose (nia), creativity (kuumba), and faith (imani).
Each evening family members gather to light one of the candles in the kinara, a seven-branched candelabra, and discuss the principle for that day; often gifts are exchanged. On December 31 the family joins other members of the community for a feast, called the karamu.
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During the 1940s and 1950s, NAACP lawyer Thurgood Marshall directed a carefully constructed legal campaign against Southern segregation laws. These laws separated blacks and whites in such areas of public life as schools, restaurants, drinking fountains, bus stations, and public transportation. The NAACP focused on segregation in education, and won a number of court victories, culminating in the Supreme Court’s ruling in 1954 in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. This ruling declared that separate facilities were inherently unequal and therefore unconstitutional, thus reversing the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson ruling.
However, President Dwight D. Eisenhower did not support a strong federal role in enforcing desegregation, an attitude that encouraged Southern resistance. State troopers were used in Texas to prevent integration; people who supported integration risked losing their jobs; and segregationists set off bombs in Tennessee and Alabama. In a “Southern Manifesto,” 101 congressmen vowed to resist integration.
Meanwhile, after three years of negotiation, the black community and the school board in Little Rock, Arkansas, devised a plan to enroll nine black students at Central High School. When the plan was implemented in the fall of 1957, Governor Orval Faubus used the National Guard to block the black students from entering the school. The public outcry forced Eisenhower to act. He put the National Guard under federal direction and sent federal troops to enforce the Brown decision and protect the students from white mobs. Nevertheless, the following year, Faubus closed all of Little Rock’s high schools rather than integrate them. Ten years after the Brown decision, less than two percent of Southern black children attended integrated schools.
Whites in many areas of the South organized private white schools rather than accept integration. In 1959 officials in Prince Edward County, Virginia, moved white students and state education funds to hastily organized white private schools. For four years, until privately funded black schools could be organized, black students in the county had no schools. Finally in 1963 the county complied with court rulings and reopened the public schools. During the early 1960s, it was necessary to maintain federal troops and marshals on the University of Mississippi campus to ensure the right of a black student to attend classes.
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On June 19th, 1865 the Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed in Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that all slaves were now free. This date was two and a half years after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. Due to the small number of Union troops posted in Texas at the time, the Emancipation Proclamation had no impact on Texas when it was signed. However, with the surrender of General Lee in April of 1865, and the arrival of General Granger’s regiment, the news finally reached the slaves of Texas. General Granger gathered a crowd in front of the Osterman Building at 22nd and Strand and proclaimed the emancipation to Texans:
General Order Number 3
“The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and free laborer.”
Many attempts have been made to explain the two and a half year delay in the receipt of this important news, but no one really know for sure why it took so long. For whatever the reason, conditions in Texas remained status quo well beyond what was statutory.
The reactions to this profound news ranged from pure shock to immediate jubilation. While many lingered to learn of this new employer to employee relationship, many left before these offers were completely off the lips of their former masters. Even with nowhere to go, many felt that leaving the plantation would be their first grasp of freedom. North was a logical destination and for many it represented true freedom, while the desire to reach family members in neighboring states drove some into Louisiana, Arkansas and Oklahoma. Recounting the memories of that great day in June of 1865 and its celebrations served as a release from the growing pressures encountered in their new territory.
The celebration of June 19th was coined “Juneteenth” and grew with more participation from descendants. The Juneteenth celebration was a time for reassuring each other, for praying and for gathering remaining family members. Juneteenth continued to be highly revered in Texas decades later, with many former slaves and descendants making an annual pilgrimage back to Galveston on this date.
A range of activities were provided to entertain the masses, many of which continue in tradition today. Rodeos, fishing, barbecuing and baseball are just a few of the typical Juneteenth activities carried down through the generations. Juneteenth almost always focused on education and self improvement. Thus often elders are called upon to recount the events of the past. Prayer services were also a major part of these celebrations. Certain foods became popular and subsequently synonymous with Juneteenth celebrations such as strawberry soda-pop and barbecuing, allowing Juneteenth participants the opportunity to share in the spirit and aromas that their ancestors would have experienced during their ceremonies. Hence, the barbecue pit is often established as the center of attention at Juneteenth celebrations.
Food was abundant because everyone prepared a special dish. Meats such as lamb, pork and beef which not available everyday were brought on this special occasion. Dress was also an important element in early Juneteenth customs particularly by the direct descendants who can make the connection to this traditions roots. During slavery there were laws on the books in many areas that prohibited or limited the dressing of slaves. During the initial days of the emancipation celebrations, there are accounts of slaves tossing their ragged garments into the creeks and rivers to adorn clothing taken from the plantations belonging to their former masters.
In the early years, little interest in the celebrations existed outside the southwestern, African American community. In some cases, there was outward resistance by barring the use of public property for the festivities. Most of the festivities found themselves out in rural areas around rivers and creeks that could provide for additional activities such as fishing, horseback riding and picnics.
Often the church grounds was the site for such activities. Eventually, as African Americans became land owners, land was donated and dedicated for these festivities. One of the earliest documented land purchases in the name of Juneteenth was organized by Rev. Jack Yates. This fund-raising effort yielded $1000 and the purchase of Emancipation Park in Houston, Texas. In Mexia, the local Juneteenth organization purchased Booker T. Washington Park, which had become the Juneteenth celebration site in 1898.
There are accounts of Juneteenth activities being interrupted and halted by white landowners demanding that their laborers return to work. However, it seems most allowed their workers the day off and some even made donations of food and money.
For decades these annual celebrations flourished, growing continuously with each passing year. In Booker T. Washington Park, as many as 20,000 African Americans once flowed through during the course of a week, making the celebration one of the state’s largest.
Economic and cultural forces provided for a decline in Juneteenth activities and participants beginning in the early 1900’s. Classroom and textbook education in lieu of traditional home and family-taught practices stifled the interest of the youth due to less emphasis and detail on the activities of former slaves. Classroom text books proclaimed Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1865 as the date signaling the ending of slavery, little or nothing is mentioned about the impact of General Granger,s arrival on June 19th.
The Depression forced many people of the farms and into the cities to find work. In these urban environments, employers were less eager to grant leaves to celebrate this date. Thus, unless June 19th fell on a weekend or holiday, there were very few participants available.
The Civil Rights movement of the 50’s and 60’s yielded both positive and negative results for the Juneteenth celebrations. While it pulled many of the African American youth away and into the struggle for racial equality, many linked these struggles to the historical struggles of their ancestors.
In 1968, Juneteenth received another strong resurgence through Poor Peoples March to Washington D.C.. Many of these attendees returned home and initiated Juneteenth celebrations in areas previously absent of such activity.
On January 1, 1980, Juneteenth became an official state holiday through the efforts of Al Edwards, an African American state legislator. The successful passage of this bill marked Juneteenth as the first emancipation celebration granted official state recognition.
Throughout the 80’s and 90’s Juneteenth has continued to enjoy a growing and healthy interest from communities and organizations throughout the country. Institutions such as the Smithsonian, the Henry Ford Museum and others have begun sponsoring Juneteenth-centered activities. In recent years, a number of National Juneteenth Organizations have arisen to take their place along side older organizations. Juneteenth today celebrates African American freedom while encouraging self-development and respect for all cultures.
As it takes on a more national and even global perspective, the events of 1865 in Texas are not forgotten, for all of the roots tie back to this fertile soil from which a national day of pride is growing.
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Any of the laws that enforced racial segregation in the U.S. South between the end (1877) of the formal Reconstruction period and the beginning of a strong civil-rights movement (1950s). “Jim Crow” was the name of a minstrel routine (actually “Jump Jim Crow”) performed beginning in 1828 by its author, Thomas Dartmouth (“Daddy”) Rice, and by many imitators, including Joseph Jefferson. The term came to be a derogatory epithet for blacks and a designation for their segregated life.
From the late 1870s, Southern state legislatures, no longer controlled by carpetbaggers and freedmen, passed laws requiring separation of whites from “persons of colour” in public transportation. Generally, anyone of ascertainable or strongly suspected black ancestry in any degree was for this purpose a “person of colour”; the pre-Civil War distinction favouring those whose ancestry was known to be mixed–particularly the half-French “free persons of colour” in Louisiana–was abandoned. The segregation principle was extended to schools, parks, cemeteries, theatres, and restaurants in an effort to prevent any contact between blacks and whites as equals. In 1954 the Supreme Court declared segregation in public schools unconstitutional and in subsequent decisions ruled similarly on other kinds of Jim Crow legislation. See also black code; racial segregation.