General Order # 3

Item

Title
General Order # 3
Creator
Major General Granger
Description
Order that came out two years after Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation informing people that slaves were free.
It reads: 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 personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.
Date
June 19, 1865
Subject
Juneteenth
Source
National Archives