By Saumya V
Juneteenth marks our country’s second Independence Day, when the last of the enslaved black population in Galveston, Texas were liberated by Union troops. This day has long been celebrated in the black community and was declared a national holiday in 2021. For over 2 centuries, millions of African Americans suffered under the fetters of chattel slavery. Though the fight for black liberation surely did not end after the abolition of slavery, this historical day marks a progressive move forward for the United States. It is important for us to learn about the history of slavery and the forces at play leading to the Civil War.
From the very beginnings of the slave trade, African Americans fought for their freedom through rebellions. These were violently suppressed by the plantation owners, who kept close watch over the slaves, dividing them and preventing them from organizing. The Fugitive Slave Act ensured government assistance in the return of runaway slaves. The southern aristocracy preserved their supremacy through government influence, demanding for every free state, there would also be a slave state. The Three-Fifths Compromise gave Southern states greater representation in the government. In the Dred Scott Case, the Supreme Court upheld slavery in US territories, denied the legality of black people’s citizenship, and declared the Missouri Compromise to be unconstitutional. This political domination deepened the rift between the agrarian south and the industrial north. Rebellions were not enough to overthrow the yoke of slavery, as the tragic end of John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry proved.
The Abolitionist movement was born from the working-class people of the northern states. Industrialization of the northern states led to a growing class of working people, who formed trade unions and fought for their rights. As was written in the Iron Platform, a NY labor paper, “The slavery of the black man leads to the slavery of the white man…If the doctrine of treason is true, that ‘Capital should own labor,’ then their logical conclusion is correct, and all laborers, white or black, are and ought to be slaves.” As a result, the northern states had abolished slavery by 1804, and became a safe haven for African Americans. Many black abolitionists such as Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth and Frederick Douglass could politically organize in the northern states.
After escaping slavery, Harriet Tubman and other free African Americans risked their lives to free thousands of people, moving them north through the Underground Railroad. Tubman was the first woman to lead an armed military operation in the US, guiding the raid at Combahee Ferry which liberated over 700 enslaved people. Sojourner Truth inspired many with her speeches on women’s rights and abolition of slavery. She recruited many black troops on the side of the Union. Frederick Douglass was a national leader of the abolitionist movement, aiding African Americans to escape through the Underground Railroad, and inspiring many with his brilliant speeches and writing.
Only a year after Abraham Lincoln’s election in 1860, the Civil War began. Lincoln saw the secession of the southern states as an act of treason. It is noteworthy that Lincoln received correspondence from the First Communist International, the International Workingman’s Association, created by Marx and Engels. He instructed his ambassador to thank the IWA for their support of the Union. When he called for volunteers to fight for the Union, over half the working force left for the front. Entire locals enlisted and fought valiantly in the bloodiest war in US history. In 1863, on “Freedom’s Eve,” President Lincoln declared the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring all slaves held in Confederate states to be free. Union soldiers, many of whom were black, marched across the south, spreading the news of freedom. It would be two years before the news would reach Galveston. Emancipation finally became national policy through the Thirteenth Amendment, outlawing slavery in every state.
It is through the working-class organizing and fighting for human rights that such progress was possible. It is through the unity of black and white people that liberation for African Americans from the exploitation of slavery was achieved. It is essential for working class Americans of all backgrounds to unite and continue to fight for civil rights today.