After the American Civil War, former slaves were set free, which was great. Instead of getting 40 acres and a mule, however, they were often made to feel unwelcome and denied services by whites. Realizing that they would have to fend for themselves, these freed slaves banded together in their own settlements. Known throughout the South as Freedmen’s Settlements, they were know as Freedom Colonies or Freedom Communities in Texas.
Their origins go back to emancipation.
The Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, also known as the Emancipation Proclamation, was signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863. While Union soldiers, some of whom were black, would march onto plantations and into cities throughout the South and inform local blacks of their freedom, the reality was that it was not possible to fully enforce the law in the Confederacy prior to its defeat in April of 1865.
Because news traveled slowly by word of mouth, it was some months before slaves in Western states knew they were free, with Texas being the last state to hold African Americans in captivity.
In Texas, on June 19, 1865, Major General Gordon Granger, who served in the Union Army during the Civil War, gave an order in Galveston that all slaves be freed under the Emancipation Proclamation (13th amendment)
At that point, 2,000 Union soldiers freed 250,000 enslaved people in Texas.
This date has been celebrated in Texas as Juneteenth and in 2021 it became a federal holiday as well.
The Freedmen’s Settlements were a response by black people throughout the South to the hostility they encountered which could include violence as well as discrimination and being taken advantage of. Having a space apart from white people gave the freedmen a less oppressive environment. They could actually be free, vs. trading in their slavery for a type of serfdom.
In Texas, the freedmen were able to obtain the land for their Freedom Colonies in one of two ways. They would either buy them with cash or through adverse possession. In the latter case, it was land that no one else wanted, such as flood-prone areas.
Acquiring this land took determination however.
Since the birth of Texas in 1845, property laws favored whites, particularly slaveholders. While Radical Republicans such as Charles Sumner and Thaddeus Stevens had discussed land distribution to freed slaves, and while General William T. Sherman issued Special Field Order 15 providing them with property, the Texas Freedmen’s Bureau had no land available.
Not having land of their own, many freed persons had to work as sharecroppers.
Freedmen’s Settlements gave African Americans throughout the South a better option as the land would be owned by the freedmen themselves. Churches were often the backbone of these communities. Members built their own homes. They also established businesses and schools. This lead to a strong network of black-owned establishments that served the local black community.
While many such settlements consisted of just a few families, others grew to be over 1,000 people.
The experience of these communities was not always positive however. The city of Austin provides an example. It denied its Freedom Colonies services such as street paving and utilities.
In 1928, the city went further and forced many black people from their established colonies. Nevertheless, they created a vibrant black downtown in the areas they retained. These areas maintained their strong identity through the 1950s.
Freedom Colonies and Freedman’s Settlements provided relatively safe spaces where freedmen could avoid sharecropping, debt bondage, and violence from whites. They provided areas where African Americans could live independently on their own property. They created places where black people could do more than survive — they could actually thrive and prosper.
I don’t know about you, but I’d like to learn more about these communities both in Texas and throughout the country. I am sure there are many fascinating facts and stories to discover.
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Previously Published on Medium
Public Domain Image on Wikipedia
Juneteenth Celebration at Emancipation Park 1880 touched up. A group photograph of thirty-one people at a Juneteenth Celebration in Emancipation Park in Houston’s Fourth Ward. Reverend Jack Yates is pictured on the left and Sallie Yates is pictured in the center toward the front in a black outfit
