the hemingses of monticello by annette gordon reed

And the last battle of the Civil War was in Texas, and actually, the Confederates won. The Army of the Trans-Mississippi kept fighting. But what happens in Texas is there was a delay from when the Emancipation Proclamation was put forth and when Lee surrendered at Appomattox in April of 1865. There was not any one day that made everything OK, made it all over until we get to the ratification of the 13th Amendment, which was in December of 1865. GORDON-REED: Well, it was - emancipation was a process. GROSS: So how does June 19, 1865, fit in to the end of slavery, the abolition of slavery in the U.S.? And it has been a day to commemorate what we know - and we know from the way they acted - the joy of people who were enslaved in Texas when they heard the news that slavery was over and being treated as chattel - those days were behind them and they were supposed to be - then go forward as equal people in the place where they lived. So let me ask you to give a fuller version of what Juneteenth represents.ĪNNETTE GORDON-REED: Well, Juneteenth represents the end of slavery - technically the end of slavery in Texas in 1865. I learned a lot that I'm really happy I learned from your new book. Her other books include 'Thomas Jefferson And Sally Hemings: An American Controversy' and 'The Hemingses Of Monticello: An American Family.' She edited the book 'Race On Trial: Law And Justice In American History.'Īnnette Gordon-Reed, welcome to FRESH AIR. She's a historian of slavery and the early American republic. My guest, Annette Gordon-Reed, is a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and Harvard professor who has written a new book called 'On Juneteenth.' It's part history, part memoir. It's a holiday in conversation with July Fourth, which celebrates America gaining its independence, but enslaved people remained in bondage.

Juneteenth is now a state holiday in Texas and seems to be on the way to becoming a national holiday.

June 19 will mark the 156th anniversary of Juneteenth, commemorating the day slavery was ended in Texas in 1865.

The hemingses of monticello by annette gordon reed